Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, has attracted media attention due to his unusual movements at the 2025 New York Times DealBook Summit. In the video clip widely shared across TikTok and other platforms, Karp’s animated gestures and peculiar body language captivated viewers.
The video emerged as Palantir faces renewed scrutiny for its central role in government surveillance operations. Its software, ‘Immigration OS’, is a key tool that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency uses to track undocumented immigrants and facilitate deportations.
This places Karp and his company in the midst of recent calls for accountability and the human cost attached to these technologies. Critics caution that Immigration OS and other similar platforms can endanger immigrant communities. They warn that it may also lead to a broader culture of surveillance and state control.
Viral Stage Behaviour: Performance or Provocation?
Observers on social media described Karp’s appearance as ‘hypnotic’ and ‘unsettling.’ While some dismissed the display as a charismatic, if eccentric, presentation style, many others saw it as emblematic. Many viewers, though, believed that it was a physical metaphor for Palantir’s increasing visibility in enforcement and surveillance operations.
Palantir have not yet released a statement to address the viral clip, although the public’s unease has magnified due to the timing of the video.
From Data Firm to Deportation Tool
Palantir Technologies, founded in 2003, initially provided data analytics tools for private and public sector organisations. In recent years, it has expanded its clientele to include government agencies. According to a December 2025 report, Palantir’s Immigration OS was awarded $60 million contract. However, this was granted without open bidding to expedite ICE’s casework after the administration’s renewed crackdown on undocumented migrants.
Internal resistance followed. The same report noted that several employees resigned over ethical concerns after Palantir removed language addressing bias and protection for vulnerable groups from its code of conduct.
Activist groups, civil-rights organisations, and critics liken Palantir’s expanding surveillance footprint to a creeping ‘surveillance state.’ Protesters in a demonstration in 2025 held up signs accusing Palantir of powering ICE and of facilitating what they view as forced deportations and human rights abuses.
Additionally, at a protest outside Palantir’s Palo Alto offices this year, activists blocked the entrance to the building. They urged tech workers to reject job offers from the company, aimed at disrupting the company’s talent pipeline and tarnishing its public image.
Why the Stage Movements Matter
Karp’s mannerisms on stage have taken on a meaning far beyond performance. The viral clip has humanised what was once an abstract debate over data, immigration, and government surveillance. By putting the spotlight on the person behind Palantir’s technology, the public is sparked into conversation about accountability, transparency, and the human cost of tech-driven policies.
As Palantir defends its work as lawful and necessary, the tension between corporate power and public trust becomes harder to ignore.
Although the strange act may soon fade from memory, observers have already regarded this as a stark visual metaphor for a larger societal debate in the future. In fact, this makes the public think about the potential role that powerful tech firms might play in overseeing human lives and policing migration.
Originally published on IBTimes UK
