Palantir CEO urges US to avoid Europe’s AI rules

Palantir CEO Alex Karp urged U.S. policymakers not to follow Europe’s approach to AI regulation, calling the region a warning sign for the Trump administration as it considers rules for fast-moving AI systems. Speaking on Fox Business, Karp said Europe has “regulated itself out of business” and argued that restrictive frameworks can shield companies from competition rather than foster strong technology markets.

Karp’s comments came as Palantir pressed the administration not to ban open-weight AI models. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has raised concerns that Chinese-made open AI models could draw on technology from U.S. laboratories. Karp said the AI revolution “has taken off” and cannot be reversed, while adding that open-weight models are often the best fit for Palantir customers and can sometimes outperform frontier models.

Karp said the main barrier to adoption is not foreign competition but business value. Some customers, he said, feel “token maxed” after paying for AI tokens without seeing enough return, and want assurance that their own business value will not be monetized by others.

He rejected both Europe-style hard regulation and a no-regulation approach, saying the U.S. must craft rules that address risks while allowing innovation to continue. Karp framed the issue as a competitive test, arguing that the central question is whether AI is regulated “in a way where we win.”