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The chief executive of AI data mining company Palantir spent more than 10 minutes sparring with a protester over the company's technology being used in the Israel-Gaza war.
Alex Karp was attending a technology policy forum when he was interrupted by a protester.
“You’re getting wealthy off of killing Palestinians with your AI and technology. You’re killing my family in Palestine! What kind of person are you?” the demonstrator repeatedly yelled.
“Do you want to hear my answer?” Mr Karp responded, to which the demonstrator said, “Sure go ahead.”
Several laughs from the audience can be heard in the video, before the protester again responded.
“It's not funny, you're killing Palestinians. Your AI technology kills Palestinians,” she shouted, before Mr Karp quickly responded.
“Mostly terrorists that’s true.”
Last week's exchange lasted about 10 minutes and ultimately the protester was removed from the event, although another protester briefly shouted as well.
Mr Karp briefly acknowledged the sheer scale of death and tragedy in Palestine, but then segued the discussion into the defence of his company.
“The obvious solution to war is to have the West have strongest and most precise deadly weapons possible so we can minimise unnecessary deaths, and the best way you minimise those deaths is that you’re so strong that nobody attacks you,” he continued after the protester had been escorted.
“She believes I’m evil, and I believe she’s an unwitting product of an evil force, Hamas. She’s unwittingly part of their strategy. She’s a product,” he continued.
The Hill and the Valley Forum, where the argument ensued in Washington, describes itself as “private bipartisan community of lawmakers and innovators committed to harnessing the power of technology.”
Among those speaking at the forum were Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark, and OpenAI chief product officer Kevin Weil, among others.
Mr Karp briefly addressed the criticisms leveled against his company with regard to defence contracts in a letter to Palantir shareholders issued shortly after the company announced its quarterly earning where he went as far as to quote former US President Richard Nixon.
"Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don’t win, unless you hate them. And then, you destroy yourself," he wrote.
"We note only that our commitment to building software for the US military, to those whom we have asked to step into harm’s way, remains steadfast, when such a commitment is fashionable and convenient and when it is not.
In recent months, other recent technology exhibitions and conferences have been interrupted by protesters expressing dismay towards a technology executive working with the military.
Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft's head of artificial intelligence, was interrupted in April by multiple protesters who criticised the company for having contracts with the Israeli military.
Videos posted on social media showed Mr Suleyman's speech coming to a halt as a woman in the audience shouts that he is a war profiteer.
“Stop using AI for genocide, Mustafa. Stop using AI for genocide in our region … 50,000 people have died. You have blood on your hands,” said the protester at the event on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington state.
“All of Microsoft has blood on its hands. How dare you all celebrate when Microsoft is killing children? Shame on you all.”
That demonstrator, along with several others, were Microsoft employees and were later fired for interrupting the company's event.
In recent weeks some technology firms have been more overt about defending their various military contracts.
Last week, Scale AI’s co-founder and chief executive Alexandr Wang told the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington that his company had a “moral imperative” to pursue work with the US military.
“We’re at the brink of this incredibly powerful new technology, and the applications for national security are obvious,” Mr Wang said during a discussion at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. “It’s going to be imperative for the US to stay ahead.”
Israel's punishing campaign in Gaza – which followed the 2023 attacks by Hamas-led fighters that resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people and the capture of 240 hostages – has killed more than 52,567 Palestinians in Gaza and injured about 118,610.
