Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, said it would be difficult for countries other than the Uni..

Gradually replacing U.S. technology is realistic “Falling behind in AI means losing in both business and defense”

사진 확대 Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies [Photo: AFP-Yonhap]

Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, said it would be difficult for countries other than the United States and China to possess the full range of their own AI technology, and that using technology from the United States and other countries was a realistic option.

In an interview with The Nikkei published on the 2nd, CEO Karp responded to calls for Japan to have its own AI model by saying, “Looking ahead five years, it is not realistic for countries other than the United States and China to have an entire AI stack (product suite) built with domestic technology. While using U.S.-made technology, Japan will have no choice but to gradually replace it with its own systems.”

Palantir, founded in 2003 by CEO Karp, entrepreneur Peter Thiel and others, has developed its own AI system, which quickly derives optimal solutions from distributed data, and is active in the military and intelligence fields. The U.S. military is said to have used Palantir’s technology to cut the time needed to select targets from 12 hours to one minute.

Regarding Japan’s next-generation defense system, CEO Karp identified “developing an AI stack suited to Japan’s distinctive principle of exclusively defense-oriented policy (exercising defensive force only when attacked)” as a challenge. Japan is considering introducing AI into the Self-Defense Forces’ command-and-control system, and Palantir is a leading candidate supplier.

CEO Karp predicted that the adoption of AI would determine which countries win or lose in industry and defense. In particular, he again emphasized the threat posed by Chinese AI, saying that if the United States, Europe and Japan fall behind in adopting AI, “China will win in both business and defense.” CEO Karp has long argued that Western values should be safeguarded through AI, stressing that “technology companies have a responsibility to defend the values of Western society and cooperate in national defense.”

He cited “the concentration of enormous wealth in the hands of a small number of people” as another threat AI could bring. He pointed out, “My own personal wealth could also grow by as much as 20-fold, and if this is left unchecked, there is a risk that the political system will collapse from within.”