Alex Karp has never been shy about saying what he thinks. But a recent comment from the Palantir CEO cuts straight to the strategic logic of modern warfare in a way that deserves attention.
Speaking about adversaries targeting AI infrastructure, Karp was direct: “They’re evil. They’re not stupid. Even there, you see a revolution. And again, we mind our own business at Palantir. Look who’s on the list. Look who’s not. I mean, we’re in the middle of war. You would expect it to be a list of hardcore military companies. They are interested in the things they can’t produce.”
The context matters. Karp was discussing the reported bombing of three Amazon data centers, and what that targeting pattern reveals about how adversaries think about modern conflict. They’re not just going after tanks and missile batteries. They’re going after the infrastructure that powers the intelligence advantage they cannot replicate themselves.
That’s a profound strategic observation. If your enemy has something you can’t build, you don’t try to out-produce it. You destroy it. AI infrastructure, data centers, the software layer sitting on top of all that compute, that’s the new high ground. And adversaries know it.
Where Palantir Fits
Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR | PLTR Price Prediction) sits at the center of this. Project Maven, the Pentagon’s AI targeting and battlefield intelligence program, runs on Palantir’s platform. CTO Shyam Sankar noted that Maven usage is at all-time highs, supporting simultaneous real-world events across combatant commands in the Joint Force, with rollout continuing to all combatant commands throughout this government fiscal year.
Karp also pointed to Middle East adoption as a leading indicator: “You see adoption, you see wide-scale adoption in China, and you see lack of adoption in Canada, Northern Europe, and in Europe in general.” The countries closest to active conflict are moving fastest.
The financial results reflect that urgency. U.S. government revenue grew 66% year over year to $570 million in Q4 2025, with full-year U.S. government revenue reaching $1.855 billion, up 55% year over year. The U.S. Navy awarded Palantir a contract worth up to $448 million to modernize the shipbuilding supply chain.
On the commercial side, the reindustrialization thesis is expanding beyond defense. Centrus Energy partnered with Palantir to implement AI solutions for uranium enrichment, identifying nearly $300 million in potential cost savings. GE Aerospace expanded its Palantir partnership to enhance U.S. Air Force aircraft readiness.
The stock is trading at $153.50, down 13.64% year to date but up 83.5% over the past year. The valuation is demanding at a forward P/E of 125x, and that’s a real tension investors have to sit with.
But Karp’s point isn’t really about valuation. It’s about inevitability. When adversaries start bombing data centers instead of military bases, they’re telling you exactly what they think the most valuable target is. Palantir built the software layer on top of that infrastructure, and the adversaries targeting it have already made their assessment of its strategic value.
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