Palantir CEO Alex Karp: CEOs are Livid 7/1/26

Summary

Squawk Pod: Palantir CEO Alex Karp – “CEOs are Livid”

Date: July 1, 2026
Host: CNBC’s Becky Quick, Joe Kernen, Andrew Ross Sorkin
Guests: Alex Karp (Palantir CEO), Ellie Gottheimer, Lara Mullen

---

Episode Overview

This episode of Squawk Pod features an in-depth interview with Palantir CEO Alex Karp on the company’s new partnership with Nvidia and his outspoken views on the current state of enterprise AI, national security, and America’s technological edge. The episode also touches on ethics controversies over President Trump’s finances and features an uplifting segment with two daughters of Congress crossing the bipartisan divide with their children’s book on friendship. The show’s signature candid and conversational style delivers a blend of news, analysis, and strong opinions—especially from Karp.

---

Key Segments & Highlights

1. Market Recap & AI Stock Trends

00:48–05:20

• Becky Quick reviews a standout market first half of 2026. The “Parabolic Seven” tech stocks (AMD, Dell, Broadcom, Intel, Micron, Marvell, SanDisk) have outperformed even the “Magnificent Seven” thanks to the ongoing AI boom.
• Notable quote:

  “Those seven stocks at this point with the gains that they saw yesterday are actually exceeding the Mag 7 multiples for the first time ever.” (Becky Quick, 04:15)

• Joe Kernen jokes about the “lag 7” and expresses skepticism over whether current performance is sustainable.

2. Big Tech & AI Policy News

05:35–07:32

• Andrew Ross Sorkin reports on Anthropic getting U.S. Commerce Department approval to restore certain AI model exports after previous restrictions for national security. Mentions stiff Chinese competition in frontier AI models.
• Discussion about Anthropic’s new internal drug discovery initiative using AI for “neglected diseases.”

3. Financial Disclosures & Ethics in Government

11:00–18:51

• The Office of Government Ethics releases President Trump’s annual financial disclosure.
  • Trump reportedly earned $2 billion in 2025, including $515 million in crypto, $635M in meme coin royalties, plus various legal settlements and stock holdings in major tech firms.
  • Debate ensues on the ethical implications of a sitting president actively running and profiting from business and crypto ventures.
• Notable quotes:

  “We’ve created a system that at the minimum allows for the perception of effectively bribery.” (Andrew Ross Sorkin, 16:31) “Ethics watchdogs obviously are gonna be all over this.” (Joe Kernen, 12:59)

• Comparison to congressional stock trading controversies (e.g., Nancy Pelosi, Ro Khanna).

---

4. Alex Karp Interview: Palantir, Nvidia & Enterprise AI

21:51–40:50

Partnership with Nvidia and AI Industry Frustrations (21:51–24:17)

• Alex Karp describes the new Nvidia partnership:

  “What aligns me with Nvidia and I think is what the technical customers want, which is control over their compute, their models, their data stack and their alpha.” (Karp, 01:16/24:17)

• Karp says large enterprises are disillusioned and “livid” with “Frontier Labs” (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.), accusing them of overselling benefits while taking proprietary business data and IP.
  • Notable quote:

    “To say they're unhappy with the Frontier Labs is to say I'm welcome at the Berkeley faculty.” (Karp, 22:48)

  • On outsourcing control:

    “Are we really going to outsource the battlefield of this country to the consensus view in Silicon Valley? That is effing insane.” (Karp, 01:34/28:06)

Application Layers & Data Sovereignty (24:17–29:47)

• Karp details the critical importance of Palantir’s “application layer” (ontology) in making LLMs safe for sensitive enterprise/regulatory use.
• Asserts Palantir’s tools allow organizations to retain control of their data, compute, and models—a contrast to SaaS/token-centric models.
• Karp labels the current enterprise AI model pricing as a “wealth tax that does not help the poor. It just punishes...”
• He claims a coming backlash:

  “These people are livid. They're like I am paying for tokens that create no value. These people are stealing the weights and alpha of my business.”

Trust Issues & Future AI Market Shakeup (29:47–33:45)

• Karp encourages CEOs and investors to call counterparts privately—“see, they're twice as livid as me.”
  (Karp, 29:49)
• He foresees possible pullbacks/canceled contracts for some AI vendors, particularly as enterprises seek secure, customized, in-house models.
• Palantir’s financials, Karp claims, reflect this trend:

  “...if you just look at our financials, you can see like a two years out, you can see 15, $18 billion in free cash flow.” (Karp, 32:50)

• On market understanding:

  “The markets are short term, very fickle and also quite frankly ... what investors actually understand tech?” (Karp, 32:53)

Security, Regulation, and Global Competition (33:45–37:25)

• Karp praises Anthropic and OpenAI’s technical work but maintains that no critical infrastructure will trust their models without Palantir’s application layer.
  • Notable quote:

    “Critical infrastructure does not run these models without an application layer in almost all cases...these things have to be made safe.” (Karp, 33:45)

• Urges nuanced regulation:

  “It is a loser to restrict something from the government because you don't agree with how the government fights war. And then open it up to the world, including our adversaries. Go sell that to the American people where they already don't like you.” (Karp, 35:20)

• On global tech rivalry:

  “We have a peer to peer adversary in China... it’s not a foregone conclusion that we win… They will win or we will win.” (Karp, 35:44)

U.S.-Israel Relations & Middle East Affairs (37:25–40:01)

• Karp, a public supporter (and internal critic) of Israel, discusses the U.S.-Israel relationship and current regional tensions:
  • “...Do you want a country that can sometimes be difficult as your partner, or do you want partners that have no tech scene as a partner? ...having a fully adult, independent, aligned country that doesn't always agree with us is much better...” (Karp, 38:00)
  • On Iran:

    “Do I think Iran's been degraded? Yes. Are there things... that would be comforting people if they are? Yes. And I'll leave it at that.” (Karp, 39:23)

• Karp reflects on public criticism and the value of having platforms for real debate.

Memorable Moments

• Karp’s candor and energy are repeatedly remarked on by all hosts:

  “This is the voice of American business that is being channeled through me. And I'm telling you it is, it is absolutely a problem for this country...” (Karp, 29:26)

• Exchanges about “being kicked out” of his own party, the entertainment value of actual disagreement, and the importance of multiple viewpoints round out a lively exit (40:07–40:57).

---

5. Bipartisanship, Friendship, and a Children's Book

43:04–48:09

• Guests: Ellie Gottheimer & Lara Mullen, co-authors of the children’s book Schmo and Ozzie Go to Washington and daughters of prominent Congressmen.
• The pair recount growing up with parents from opposite sides of the aisle (New Jersey & Oklahoma) but forging genuine friendship—“trauma bonding” over congressional workouts.
• The book seeks to teach kids about reaching across divides:

  “The idea that even though they're from two completely different sides of the aisle, they're able to be such close friends and work together, and they even can find common ground to agree on.” (Ellie Gottheimer, 44:50)

• Both agree that their families kept politics out of friendships; they hope their story builds empathy and counteracts divisiveness in future generations.

---

Notable Quotes by Segment

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |------------|-------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:16 | Alex Karp | “What aligns me with Nvidia and I think is what the technical customers want, which is controlled over their compute, their models, their data stack and their alpha.” | | 01:34 | Alex Karp | “Are we really going to outsource the battlefield of this country to the consensus view in Silicon Valley? That is effing insane.” | | 16:31 | Andrew Ross Sorkin| “We’ve created a system that at the minimum allows for the perception of effectively bribery.” | | 22:48 | Alex Karp | “To say they're unhappy with the Frontier Labs is to say I'm welcome at the Berkeley faculty.” | | 29:26 | Alex Karp | “This is the voice of American business that is being channeled through me. And I'm telling you it is, it is absolutely a problem for this country...” | | 33:45 | Alex Karp | “Critical infrastructure does not run these models without an application layer in almost all cases...these things have to be made safe.” | | 38:00 | Alex Karp | “...Do you want a country that can sometimes be difficult as your partner, or do you want partners that have no tech scene as a partner?” | | 44:50 | Ellie Gottheimer | “Even though they're from two completely different sides of the aisle, they're able to be such close friends and work together...” |

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Tech Market Recap: 00:48–05:20
• Anthropic/AI Regulation Updates: 05:35–07:32
• Trump’s Financial Disclosure Discussion: 11:00–18:51
• Palantir & Nvidia Interview Begins: 21:51
  • Partnership & Industry “Lividity”: 21:51–24:17
  • Application Layer Details: 24:17–29:47
  • Trust Issues & Market Impact: 29:47–33:45
  • Regulation & Security: 33:45–37:25
  • Israel/US/Iran Relations: 37:25–40:01
• Children’s Book on Bipartisanship: 43:04–48:09

---

Tone & Style Notes

• Alex Karp is characteristically passionate, combative, and frank, frequently pivoting from deep technical points to indignant critiques of Silicon Valley, the media, and even his own “former party.”
• The hosts maintain Squawk Box’s blend of tough questioning, playful banter, and surprise at Karp’s candor.
• The children’s book segment closes the episode with warmth and optimism about the possibility of future bipartisanship in Washington.

---

Summary Takeaway

This episode offers a sweep of today’s top business, technology, and political flashpoints, headlined by Alex Karp’s polemic on enterprise AI and national security. Karp pulls no punches over his peers in Silicon Valley, warning of enterprise frustration and geopolitical risk if control over “compute, data stack, and alpha” isn’t prioritized. The episode also unpacks pressing questions about transparency in government finances, concludes with an inspiring conversation about friendship across the aisle, and above all, delivers the debate and divergent perspectives Squawk Pod is known for.

Transcript

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Ever notice how life's best stories don't happen in your living room. They happen on the open road, out on the water or parked under the stars. At Progressive, they get that you want to focus on the experience, not worry about the what ifs. That's why they offer quality insurance designed for your ride, whether That's a boat, RV or motorcycle adventure with confidence. Visit progressive.com and see how easy it is to protect your favorite way to get away. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates not available in D.C. prices vary based on how you buy.

[AT&T Business Representative]

Before we had ATT Business this wireless coverage, our delivery GPS wasn't the most reliable. Once our driver had to do a 14 point turn to get back on route. A 14 point turn. An influencer even live streamed the whole thing. Not good for business. Now with AT&T business Wireless, routes are updating on the fly and deliveries are on time. And the influencer did get us 53 new followers though.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything. Bring in show music please.

[Becky Quick]

Hi, I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on Squawk Pod, Palantir CEO Alex Karp a big interview that starts with a new partnership with chip maker Nvidia.

[Alex Karp]

What aligns me with Nvidia and I think is what the technical customers want, which is controlled over their compute, their models, their data stack and their alpha

[Becky Quick]

and spans to everything else he's fired up about in artificial intelligence and national security.

[Alex Karp]

Are we really going to outsource the battlefield of this country to the consensus view in Silicon Valley? That is effing insane.

[Becky Quick]

Then what happens when two daughters of Congress forge a friendship across the aisle? New children's book authors Ellie Gottheimer of

[Ellie Gottheimer]

New Jersey Just our dads have always been friends, forced and sowell to go to a bipartisan workout group most mornings when we're in Washington D.C. so we've kind of trauma bonded over that a little bit.

[Becky Quick]

And Laura Mullen, daughter of the Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen.

[Lara Mullen]

It was definitely very different than when you'd say the normal childhood. A couple times I felt like Hannah Montana.

[Becky Quick]

Plus a mountain of disclosures about the president's finances.

[Joe Kernan]

Ethics watchdogs obviously are gonna be all over this.

[Becky Quick]

Should a sitting president be allowed to trade stocks on a regular basis?

Should a congressman showing more than half a billion dollars in crypto income and raising some questions?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

We've created a system that at the minimum allows for the perception of effectively bribery.

[Becky Quick]

It is Wednesday, July 1st, 2026. Squawk Pod begins right now.

[Alex Karp]

Stand Becky by in three, two, one.

[Becky Quick]

Good morning everybody. Welcome to Squawk Box right here on cnbc. We are live from the NASDAQ market site in times S there. I'm Becky Quick along with Joe Kernan and Andrew Ross Sorkin. And here we are. First day of the second half. First day of the third quarter. What a first half it was for the year. At the halfway mark for 2026. The Russell 2000 is the standout performer for that first half year. To date it is up by nearly 22%. It closed yesterday's session at a record high, once again above 3,000. The Nasdaq is up by 12.8% for the first half of the year. The S&P 500 is up by 9.5% and the Dow is up by nearly 9% closing its best first half performance since 2021. But if you were looking just at the second quarter, that's where there were some really phenomenal performances. Particularly if you were looking at technology stocks. The Nasdaq up by about 21 and a half percent, but the NASDAQ 100, the largest technology companies up by 27 and a half percent for the quarter. It's unbelievable to kind of watch. We know about the Magnificent seven and the performance that they've been putting in. But if you haven't been watching the Parabolic seven stocks, that was what really took off not just throughout entire quarter, but even yesterday. All of those stocks up by about 6 to 12%. These are the stocks that you're watching. AMD, Dell, Broadcom, Intel. Flip that over. You're also going to be looking at Micron, Marvell, SanDisk. Those seven stocks at this point with the gains that they saw yesterday are actually exceeding the Mag 7 multiples for the first time ever.

[Joe Kernan]

Eyes winning and the war and high oil prices losing. That's the only thing I can say. I don't know how you explain it. How long is the war almost covered the entire quarter. Not quite happened.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Right.

[Joe Kernan]

So all this is happening with that as the backdrop and with what did oil prices average? They came down recently, but they had to average above 90.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Yeah, I was going to say. I was going to say high 80s, 90, 95.

[Joe Kernan]

So go figure. Is it got to be. Got to be what? Yeah, it's got to be. Got to be.

[Becky Quick]

Yeah. And that parabolic seven, I mean they have just taken off. It was the Mag 7 that were the first gainers for what was happening with AI. Now this is the second iteration of that and it's been something.

[Joe Kernan]

We got a guy coming on in a second who is calling him the

[Becky Quick]

lag 7 instead of the mag 7.

[Joe Kernan]

We'll see what he means, what he means by that. They haven't done quite as well, but. No, we'll see what he means.

[Becky Quick]

Look at Those gains. Micron up 202%. SanDisk up 204.

[Joe Kernan]

Not lagging yet. Maybe in recent years, just in the last quarter.

[Becky Quick]

Perhaps if you look at treasury yields this morning, because remember, we do get that big jobs report tomorrow a day early because of the July 4th holiday on Friday. You'll see right now the 10 year is yielding for 46. The two year is at 417.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Anthropic now saying the U.S. commerce Department has lifted export controls on its clawed Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models. It had disabled access to those models in mid June to comply with the government's national security restrictions. Anthropic said that Fable 5 will be available to global users on the cloud platform beginning today. And it says it has restored access to mythos 5 for some US organizations continue to work with the US government to expand access for more domestic and international partners. And that's a big move in terms of the next stage of all this. Having said that, we talked on Monday just about how there was this new Chinese model which apparently is as good, if not better than the Fable and Mythos model.

[Joe Kernan]

And so there's at some point. We've heard that before at certain things. Yeah. I read it and it said it very specific. Right. You know all this stuff much better than I do.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I've been, by the way, trying to see, even as I'm looking, I was trying to see whether I could get back on Fable right now, but I can't yet. Says it's still disabled on me.

[Joe Kernan]

I saw it ask me, it asked me whether I wanted it the other day, my friend Clog, but then it said it wasn't available.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

It's not. I mean, I, I, mine still says currently unavailable, but I had a choice

[Joe Kernan]

of like three other things that I didn't know if I wanted any of those.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

The other models.

[Becky Quick]

Yes.

[Joe Kernan]

Yeah. You weren't reachable. No. I think they want money for some of them, don't they?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Oh, I'm, I'm a paying customer, so.

[Joe Kernan]

Yes, I know you are. You're going to end up having to need one of those programs that looks at everything that you've paid for. You know what I mean? I saw something the other day. I wanted to read an article and it says you can get 14 days free. And I was like, okay, so I can see the article. But then it said it automatically charges you.

[Becky Quick]

You have to put your credit in ahead of your credit card, ahead of time. The only thing that ever saves me my credit card every once in a while either I lose it or it gets stolen and then I cancel it and then all of the subscriptions have to track me down to say give me the new credit card and I say no.

[Joe Kernan]

Thing to do occasionally.

[Becky Quick]

All right. Separately, Anthropic is starting an internal drug discovery program as part of an effort to develop AI tools for drug makers. The company's head of life sciences said yesterday that company will focus on discovering treatments for what they call neglected diseases that would be considered attractive targets for traditional pharma companies. A spokesperson told CNBC that the effort was just beginning and that they would share more as their work progresses.

[Joe Kernan]

Shares of Nike falling to levels that we haven't really seen much recently from this company. It was a high flyer company reporting adjusted earnings of 20 cents a share beating estimates 39 of 13 cents. That adjusted number does not include 52 cents a share of tariff related gains. Refund related gains. Analysts didn't include that in their estimates. Company said it collected more than $300 million in tariff refunds. Revenue of about $11 billion topped estimates of 10.9 billion and North American sales of $4.8 billion. That was apparently below expectations. China sales dropped 12% but still topped analyst estimates. As for guidance, Nike expects earnings to be flattish for the next two quarters. I'm doing all this trying to see if this is. It's a new low and we have to go all the way back to.

[Becky Quick]

It's down sharply.

[Joe Kernan]

This probably like an 8 year low, isn't it?

[Becky Quick]

Yeah, it's down sharply just this last year too if you're watching.

[Joe Kernan]

But look at the high. I don't know what the height looks like. It got us somewhere around 150 or 60 in the market cap. Now for the Dow component.

[Becky Quick]

I was thinking about that this morning.

[Joe Kernan]

It's going to be like under like around 45 billion and at one point

[Becky Quick]

it had to be well over 103 years down 64%. I mean they've just said that their customers around the globe.

[Joe Kernan]

When you lose Sorkin, you lose. Have you bought any Nike sneakers? When's the last time you bought sneakers? Nike sneaker.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Haven't bought any sneakers in a while. I'm rooting for them. I mean I love Nike more than anything. And that ad, I don't know if you remember that ad Right after the Knicks one was one of the great sports ads.

[Joe Kernan]

In someone who doesn't watch that, you see it online. You don't see it on TV because you've been seeing any of these ads because you saw some other ad you really like to. For.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Oh, for Polymarket.

[Joe Kernan]

Yeah. Yes. Where are you seeing these online?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Well, that one I saw. No, that when I saw, you know, watching tv. I do watch. I was watching the game.

[Joe Kernan]

How many times can you watch Billions? I don't understand it. Don't you know every line that's. That's coming. I mean, and there's no commercial.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Other things.

[Joe Kernan]

Really.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Yes, I'm watching. But anyway, let's root for Nike because they need to get back.

[Joe Kernan]

What do we have to.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

You don't have to.

[Joe Kernan]

And you know, I'm against. I don't have to do, like so many things I've been rooting against. I have not bought a Nike product in years. I won't. Still mad about those. The cops that were like pigs on those socks? I'm still mad about that. Still mad about that. I'm sorry. Mad about kneeling. Mad about all that. That's not a young man. I'm a little like that cloud. I'm shaking.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Okay, well, tell me what. You. Tell me what you think about this next story because there are no.

[Joe Kernan]

I need to know what you think.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

There are people who are making that, who are doing that about.

[Joe Kernan]

You have to tell me how to

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

think because I don't know.

[Joe Kernan]

That's what I, I thought about this. And my answer is there's a lot of. Okay, but I will. But there's a lot of questions. I don't have the answers. You need to tell me how to think about this.

[Becky Quick]

Tell the story first.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

So, no, here's the story. The Office of the Government Ethics released President Trump's annual financial disclosure report yesterday. It revealed that the President pulled in at least $2 billion in 2025. His crypto related income in 2025 included about $515 million from the sale of tokens from the World Liberty from World Liberty financial, and another 65 million from sales of equity in World Liberty's holding company. He also received $635 million in royalties from Celebration Coins. It wasn't immediately clear what those coins are, though. Bloomberg is reporting that the royalties are related to Mr. Trump's meme coin business. Now, he earned more than $86 million in legal settlements as well. Those included the 24.5 million from Metta, $16 million apiece from Paramount And Disney. And President Trump's biggest stock holdings include Amazon, Mehta in video and Tesla.

[Joe Kernan]

Right. Okay. So lots of questions. Tell me what the answers are to the questions because we don't have answers to the questions. Right. I will tell you. I'll tell you one other thing. He made 4.7 million from. I almost contributed to that. Trump watches. Okay. Trump branded watches. I was going to buy you one. I can't remember which one, you know, as a deal. So

[Alex Karp]

this is.

[Joe Kernan]

I say this a lot. And others, you know, people say this is how Trump rolls. And it is how President Trump rolls. He's selling watches. He's selling Trump branded watches while he's president.

[Becky Quick]

I think that's different than some of the bitcoin and other issues that his administration is having an impact on right now.

[Alex Karp]

Right.

[Joe Kernan]

You have to. And ethics watchdogs obviously are going to be all over this. Democrats, if Democrats retake the House, you're going to be all over looking at this. The people in charge of some watchdog groups are saying there needs to be reform across the board in should a

[Becky Quick]

government be allowed to trade stocks on a regular basis?

[Joe Kernan]

Well, he's not, Congressman. That's discretionary. His is supposed that they emphasize that that's discretionary. The Journal points out he has a vast and sundry business that Donald Trump does. There's no doubt about it. His sons are running it. They're not stupid, I don't think. And to go from making investments to being able to prove that there was quid pro quo or influence peddling or whether people just think if I do this, I'm going to be.

[Becky Quick]

But is charisma the same thing with Biden?

[Joe Kernan]

That's what I mean. And okay, how about this question? If he was not president, would his businesses have gone up more or less than what happened?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Well, you tell me, do you.

[Joe Kernan]

I don't know. These are my questions. That's why I'm asking you for the answers.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

So let's start on the world Liberty business.

[Joe Kernan]

Yeah. Because that was 15 billion. It's now 400 million or something or one of them.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Okay. So that business wouldn't. I don't think first of all, crypto regulations would have been different probably under a different president. So the opportunity for all those crypto would be different. Should the.

[Joe Kernan]

Does that mean that they should not have tried to make the.

[Becky Quick]

No, it's just. Can you benefit.

[Joe Kernan]

The spokesperson says that the president has made crypto or made the United States the leading country.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I understand that. I'm just all I'M look, the thing that I care about as an American is I would love for all of this to just be no money involved with anything. So you are not raising these questions because invariably what happens is you sit here and you say to yourself, are certain people making decisions for a reason? And by the way, it may not be that the president is making specific decisions to enrich himself, but it may be that there are other people who think that they can influence him. Maybe they're influencing him and maybe they're not. But either way, you. Then we sit here and we have to say to ourselves, what's going on? The UAE made a massive investment in World Liberty. Would the uae, you just said what would have happened if he wasn't the president? Would the UAE have made a massive investment in Liberty Financial?

[Joe Kernan]

You have questions. I don't know. That's what I said, questions. But you know what is good? That there is all this disclosure. Sure, amazing.

[Becky Quick]

Disclosure is good. I think it kind of raises the question though. I think of it more of like when you were allowing the railroad to expand, if you had known about, if you were going to make some of those changes in advance and you could buy the land along the way before anybody else knew about those things. I don't know, I don't know exactly how this worked out. But those, those are the questions. If you have regulatory control and you also have the first mover advantage of knowing.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Look, I think that I've, I've spoken about very, on the show with you about Nancy Pelosi and the trades and how I would tell you that that is, I think I've used the word shameful. So if you, if I can say that about trading, what would you say about this? I don't, I'm just, I'm, I'm asking

[Joe Kernan]

why I told you that. You need to tell me how to think about it because I don't, I have questions, but I don't have answers. Here's the other.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

The answer ultimately is that we have to find a way to make it so that our politics are somewhat immune from money. And we've created a system that at the minimum allows for the perception of effectively bribery.

[Joe Kernan]

That's what's, what is also. It's unprecedented. There's no doubt. What's also unprecedented. You never had a guy take office that was worth billions and billions of dollars. It has a bit. They had a business, a successful business of golf courses and all this crap all around the world. And that's not going to go away either. So I Think the question of whether. I mean, I think definitely after his first term, that that hurt his businesses and it hurt his brand. And then all the litigation and everything that came from. And the other thing, Andrew, after January, if, okay, there's smoke, all right, and there's whether there's fire, I would think that there would be a zealous pursuit of any of the things that you're talking about, especially if, if Democrats.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Well, we also have an emoluments clause. I mean, there are laws and rules that are supposed to prevent things possible

[Joe Kernan]

to make these sticks. Someone's going to do it with this guy because he's got so many enemies.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I wonder whether the rules have to be not just enforced, but are going to ultimately have to be changed.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Right.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And the question is, is there going to be an appetite for that?

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

That's what that.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And how would that work with.

[Joe Kernan]

The ethics guy said that we got to. Got to look at the way everything is right now, and we got to make sure that they all.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Look, we've had basic conversations. It goes back to the trading story, and we've not. You know, here we are sitting around saying that we're not investing in doing what we do or the folks at the SEC don't. Don't invest in stocks.

[Joe Kernan]

I bought like a couple of bitcoins seven years ago, and you're still telling me that. That my opinion is based on me buying that, and it isn't.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I mean, look, the point.

[Joe Kernan]

Actually, I didn't say that I sold 90% of it below where it is now.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

The point is that most people at companies around the country have very significant restrictions on what they're able to do. If you are the CEO of Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan, you're limited about what you're able to do. If you. We have lots of restrictions in most of corporate America, frankly, and lots of parts of the regulatory world as well. And yet, for whatever reason we're saying in the White House is different.

[Joe Kernan]

Are you up to speed on the Ro Khanna stuff? I've been seeing this stuff on Twitter. I mean, he's. How much is he worth?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

He's worth an extraordinary amount of money. I mean, through his. His wife's family. But a lot of trading, too. But there's a lot of trading. And the question is how, how. How would you like to limit that?

[Joe Kernan]

I.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And by the way, I think we should try to try to limit those things or at least create systems that make you feel better about how those things work. I don't. By the way, we should have people who have wealth in. In Washington.

[AT&T Business Salesperson]

Exactly.

[Becky Quick]

Because you don't want people who are completely unsophisticated.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I'm not suggesting that we don't want that. I'm just suggesting that there are rules. By the way, when Jay Clayton went to the sec, you know, his, his. His wife had worked at Goldman Sachs. Stopped working at Goldman Sachs. I mean, I'm just saying.

[AT&T Business Representative]

Cheese will be next.

[Becky Quick]

Coming up on Squawk Pod, Palantir is teaming up with Nvidia. And Palantir CEO Alex Karp is fired up about the way technology works right here at home.

You sound pretty angry.

[Alex Karp]

No, this is the voice of American business that is being channeled through me. And I'm telling you it is. It is absolutely a problem for this country.

[Becky Quick]

It's the type of conversation you'll only hear on Squawk Box and the kind of passion you'll only hear from Alex Karp.

[Alex Karp]

And I'll tell you, we're off camera now.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

No, we're still going.

[Becky Quick]

Stay with us through this quick break.

[Alex Karp]

Hey, Fidelity. Can I get a second opinion on stocks in the Fidelity app?

[AT&T Business Salesperson]

With Fidelity, it's easy to get an outside opinion from independent experts in a single score. And then when you're ready, trade US stocks and ETFs with no commissions.

[AT&T Business Representative]

That's right.

[AT&T Business Salesperson]

I am always right.

[Alex Karp]

Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. $0 commission does not apply to customers designated by Fidelity as a professional equity trader. A limited number of ETFs are subject to a service fee of $100. See [e-mail] commissions Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Member NYSE SIPC Adventures don't always go as planned. One minute you're cruising in your rv. The next your tire hits a massive pothole. Progressive is ready for you when the unexpected hits. With excellent claim service for your boat, RV and motorcycle, plus optional coverage like roadside assistance and on the water towing. Visit progressive.com and make sure your next adventure is unforgettable for the right reasons. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates not available in all states or situations. Coverage is subject to policy terms and limits.

[AT&T Business Salesperson]

Not every sale happens at the register. Before AT&T business Wireless, checking out customers on our mobile POS systems took too long. Basically a staring contest where everyone loses. It's crazy what people will say during an awkward silence. Now transactions are done before the silence takes hold. That means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sail or two. Sometimes I do miss the bonding time.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Sometimes AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything.

[Becky Quick]

This is Squawk Pod from cnbc.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Here's Andrew Ross Sorkich Palantir expanding its partnership with Nvidia to build custom AI systems for the US Government. That stock shooting up, it's up again this morning, up almost 6% this week. And joining us right now exclusively at the table, Alex Carr. Palantir is co founder and CEO and CNBC's Seema Modi, who covers Palantir, joins us. And tell us about, tell us about the deal with there's so many things I think we all want to talk about. But, but let's get to the Nvidia deal first.

[Alex Karp]

Because I have so much respect for, for Nvidia and Jensen Wong, I'm going to try to keep this more adult than I usually do. But the truth is, if you want to know how this came together, from my perspective, it was, there's a further, a lot of technical issues. Who controls the models? Who controls the weights? Who controls the value of your business? But you know, we're, we're, we're sitting on critical infrastructure across America, Ukraine, Israel. Everyone who uses LLMs on the battlefield runs on top of our ontology. And our clients are just to say they're unhappy with the Frontier Labs is to say I'm welcome at the Berkeley faculty. It's like there's just a level of discomfort and loss of trust that also made it really unpack that.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

What do you mean by that?

[Alex Karp]

Well, you have, okay, so when you're, when you're using large language models, they are, it's like at this point, everyone technical realizes they're like a critical resource to make them valuable in an enterprise like battlefield context or regulated context or manufacturing, you have to have what's called an application layer. We have this thing called ontology that now everyone's copying. But de facto it takes a large language model. It makes it safe and useful and precise. So safe because it doesn't touch your unlearning data. Safe because it prevents the large language model from caching your data and replicating your business. Safe because it doesn't transfer your IP of how to fight secret data, top secret data, or in a clinical context. So the general way these things were sold again, these people are Sam and Dario. There's nothing more fun than debating Dario in private. So I'm not throwing shade at them. But something has gone completely wrong. And the basic view among enterprises in this country is I'm going to chillax and waste my time with tokens. I'm going to get no value. And they're going to get my ip.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

That sounds like shade. And not just shade. It sounds like if you're saying these.

[Alex Karp]

No, no, no, no.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

This is reporting, okay.

[Alex Karp]

And this is reporting that I've literally, against my own interest, called I'm profiting from this. Right. So the reality is you may not like us at my former school, Haverford or Berkeley, but enterprises in this country trust and love us. Especially ones that are involved in critical infrastructure, both public and private. Okay? So I want for those countries we're coming up to July 1st. I want those. I want for us and our. Our, Our. Our. Our friends across the globe to have the very best tech resources. In fact, the whole secret of Palantir is the forward deployed model. The products that have been five years ahead. Do you know you've been with me for a long time. Everyone, everyone, everyone said FDA's were services. They said we don't even know what an ontology is. That's the only thing people talk about now. The secret was we delivered the best things for the war fighters. Those war fighters have serious trust issues. But it's not just the word vis a vis Frontier Labs. Then you have my enterprises in the private sector who have the same issues. Like why would they get access to my data if they're going to build my alpha? Why wouldn't I control the weights? Why wouldn't. And that's where you get this partnership. What aligns me with in video and I think is what the technical customers want, which is control over their compute, their models, their data stack and their alpha. They want to know they own the means of production. It's not being transferred to someone else. They're not interested in some fake deploy code that somehow is deploying tokens that transfers the alpha to a third party and the jig is up. And so we have to figure out a way. Both our. Our products are agnostic.

[Becky Quick]

We.

[Alex Karp]

We now sell a product to customers that allows you to switch from model to model because. And we're completely agnostic, but we need to rebuild trust. And that trust is going to happen where everyone gets to ask, ask and answer basic questions. Who owns the data? Where is it cached? Are the prompts secure? Is this being transferred to you? Are you being okay? If it was so valuable, let's say I can make you $1 billion, right? Tomorrow, wouldn't I say I'll make you $1 billion and I want 30%? Why are they charging for tokens if it's so valuable?

[Katie Kramer]

So then, Alex, if the key from what I'm hearing you say is a secure American born open source model. How quickly can your model compete with the frontier? Well now what I'm saying is energetic.

[Alex Karp]

Okay, what I am claiming obviously slightly true but slightly self centered is it's the model plus an application layer plus compute. It is really all three. So in our jargon it's the value, the reason. Okay, just look at our financials. The reason why everyone is chillaxing with bad financials and growth with losing money is the client refuses to pay the true cost. The two places that actually make money like profit free cash flow are our application layer called ontology and compute. Okay, what I am not just claiming we can take an open model and in the classified or non classified context, get it to the point of a frontier model. But a you control the weights. So what is the true cost? Not just what you're paying. The true cost is not just is what you make minus what you lose, meaning the value of your business. We can get the the frontier application to be exactly the same as a frontier model without the risk of transferring the alpha of your business to another. By the way, you could do this with a frontier closed model too. But then the clients have to be able to ask and answer very basic questions. Are you keeping the data? Are you going to enter our business? What do you in the classified context, when the Department of War goes to you and says I need this application, do they get to control the weights to do it or do you get to control the weights? Are we really going to outsource the battlefield of this country to the consensus view in Silicon Valley? That is effing insane. And by the way, every single enterprise in this country in private, a lot of them don't want to speak in public because it gets outsourced to the neurodivergent crazy person that apparently is on drugs. The one thing I don't do, okay, so that's my role. But I'm telling you, in this country, at every single enterprise I deal with, these people are livid. They're like I am paying for tokens that create no value. These people are stealing the weights and alpha of my business. And they're creating a wealth tax that does not help the poor. It just punishes. Starts with the billionaires. Every single person at this table is going to be paying a wealth tax only to punish us. And the reason for it is because these models have been completely over irresponsibly overselled and the sell is it's dangerous for everyone. Which is why I can give it to all your adversaries. But I can't give it to the Department of War or I can't safely give it to an enterprise in this country without being certain that the Alphabet business could transfer to this model tomorrow. That is, I have no business, no job.

[Becky Quick]

You sound pretty angry with.

[Alex Karp]

This is the voice of American business that is being channeled through me. And I'm telling you it is, it is absolutely a problem for this country because we are on the cutting edge of every single AI technology. But if you're going to triply oversell something, and by the way, the enterprises are just tired of it.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But by the way, Just a minute.

[Alex Karp]

I want you, everybody watching this, to test what I'm saying, especially investors who think somehow this is working, pick up the phone and call a CEO in private, not in public. Every single person here can do this. Call 2 or 3 and say Madman Karp is on TV saying we're livid. I'm not going to quote you. You know, I won't quote you. You have a history and see, they're twice as livid as me.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Like so if you're right though, does that mean that we are living in some kind of terrible AI bubble and that we're going to, in a quarter or two or three quarters from now we're going to hear that big enterprises are canceling their subscriptions to these products or that they build out is going to slow?

[Alex Karp]

Because this is the tragedy of it. The reality of compute plus ontology plus model change. The is changing the course of history. Ask the Ukrainians, ask the Israelis, ask our Department of War, ask the enterprise that are working. We do not have to oversell what we have. We have. And it's all being built in this country basically, except for the open models, which is a real thing coming from China. Except for Nvidia models which are world class, basically. It's all being built here. We do not have to overhype. We do not have to overhype it to the point where we're going to have wealth tax punishing the world, right?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But if they're charging the enterprise three times as much as they should be and then they have to pull back on that, that changes the math of all of this.

[Alex Karp]

Who's the they like?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

The they are the large language models which by the way, impact your partner in video because they.

[Alex Karp]

Sorry, I'm talking about the they, the enterprises that power this country as the most important thing. You're talking about the they as Frontier Labs in Silicon Valley. That's great. I'M focused on the enterprises.

[Becky Quick]

Where did the hyperscale.

[Alex Karp]

Well, you know it, it depends what they're selling. That's very, very downstream from us. We're completely agnostic. We prefer a world where there are more hyperscalers, where there's all sorts of new hyperscalers. Elon Nvidia we like that world. Why do we like the world? The same reason when you go online and there's 50 times that kinds of coach, you get to pick the one you like. But what is happening among the most technical players is they're saying I want something, I own. This is my business. I want to own the GPUs, I want to own my data, I want to own the model, I want to control the alpha.

[Katie Kramer]

So more, more opportunity for Palantir. Are you already seeing the government cancel contracts with Anthropic and Open Air and

[Alex Karp]

saying we're not here, literally not here to talk about what's going to happen to a very important business in the country, except for obviously to some extent mine. In my business we have much more demand than we can supply. That's like. And, and by the way, it may be somewhat, maybe I may be the crazy person that still only cares about free cash flow, but we have more business and we can apply and we have look, if you just look at our financials, you can see like a two years out, you can see 15, $18 billion in free cash flow.

[Becky Quick]

So are you frustrated by the stock's performance over the last.

[Alex Karp]

You know what, I've been at this for 20 years. We've been at this talking is when we first started talking, people are like, is this a services company? Is it worthless? The markets are short term, very fickle and also quite frankly where I would throw some shade what investors actually understand tech. They think because they're very high IQ and they understand certain things, they understand what they're using. Basically the fault of investors is typically I use it, therefore it's valuable. Yeah. When an enterprise uses it's doing complicated manufacturing or pharmacological research or putting a bomb on or bringing special forces people home safely. Very different than what you're using.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

If you're a pharmaceutical company or you're the government, should you not be therefore using Anthropic or an open air without your layer on top? I mean is that, would you say that's dangerous for them?

[Alex Karp]

You, you. Look, first of all, honestly the one thing that I am slightly frustrated about these, these when, when, when, when Open Air, Anthropic especially are talking about critical Infrastructure. It only is being used in our product. My product. And there's a reason for that. These things are very, very valuable. What. What. What they have done. Building models is world historic. And just so you see, I'm not throwing shade. Dario is a literally historic figure. And he. He came from behind and he's now number one. Almost no one in the. I've been in business, whatever you want to call I do for a long time. Never seen anything like this. Okay, so the reality is critical infrastructure does not run these models without an application layer in almost all cases. And maybe it won't be all cases someday. That application layers, ontology. That's a fact. And there's a reason for it. It's not that. As you know, some people love me, some people hate me. They're not buying it because of that. They're buying because these things have to be made safe. And the I'm going to trust you. You should trust me because I've never lied. BS thing, that just doesn't cut it at this level. And enterprises are run by the shrewdest. American enterprises are run by the shrewdest most widely intelligent people on the planet. If you think they're going for that, you can go try to sell me like, my parents still want me to get a job as a faculty member at Berkeley. Go try to get me a job at Berkeley. I'm very qualified. It's not happening.

[Katie Kramer]

Do you agree with the notion of the most robust, powerful AI models should be withheld from the public due to cybersecurity risks?

[Alex Karp]

Look, you really have to make the one. One of the things we're really trying to get the west to do is move away from like, not like. And these are very technical. What does the model do? Who is restricted? I would say it is a loser to restrict something from the government because you don't agree with how the government fights war. And then open it up to the world, including our adversaries. Go sell that to the American people where they already don't like you.

[Katie Kramer]

You have a lot of data that you look at. Do you think China is getting better at. How is the gap narrowing?

[Alex Karp]

There are two relevant tech centers and two and a half. America, China, Israel. Those are the tech centers of the world. And we. Look, I spent half my life in Europe. I want Europe to be relevant. And Sweden has a real tech scene. There's. You have to be. Can't just like, you know. But the relevant tech centers, we are. We have a peer to peer adversary in China. China has Lots of advantages, including, quite frankly, we have to find ways to make these models raise the standard of living for every America. And we need a sense. Americans need to have a sense. It's not just the people at this table, people watching it getting rich. And there are real issues there. And then we have left and right, far left, far right gone completely nuts. You would think that the greatest problem in the world if you were on the far left is somehow it's like if things work, it's evil and bad. By the way, I've been wholesale kicked out of my own party because I warned that this was going to happen on the left. And it is happening. Then you have on the far right, like it's like on both sides. You think the biggest problem of our society are like warlocks roaming the street building technology. Of course they can't understand it. Like they attack Palantir for the craziest. China doesn't have that problem. But it also doesn't have the creativity, ingenuity and, and deep tech creativity we have. But the reality is it's not a foregone conclusion that we win, that we have, we have the biggest problem in this country on these debates is we debate these things as if we don't have adversaries. It's not actually true. It's binary. They will win or we will win.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Let me ask you, I just want to pivot to a slightly different conversation, but related. You have been a proponent and great supporter of Israel over the years, great support of Israel and right now we have a cease fire in the Middle east which we hope holds. Having said that, there is a bit of space between where the US is now and where Netanyahu is on what is happening here and whether they ultimately be protected. And I'm curious, given that and given also your relationship with the US government and the work you do there, how you think about that disconnect.

[Alex Karp]

This is like so many things, I am the most publicly supportive CEO of Israel. And that's true. I think Israel is a, is. Is on the side of good now in private because I have a. I'm known there to be fair. I'm probably also the most effective critic of like, hey, I didn't agree with this without going and I would be very happy to be more in public about that, except for I think not all. There are many legitimate criticisms of Israel and every other country. Although I would say do you want a country that can sometimes be difficult as your partner, or do you want a country or do you want partners that have no tech scene as a partner. And so, like, it's like in this world, having a fully adult, independent, aligned country that doesn't always agree with us is much better than what we somehow have in Europe. Right. That's. We do not want that. Yes. Okay. So look, America and Israel will always have, Will never be fully aligned. And that's totally okay. My position is they are a very important partner and we are proud to support them. And in private, you can bet your last dollar, I call and complain about a lot of things.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

So what do you think of this MOU or whatever deal you think is. Is on offer and whatever the deal that is, do you think that we are now in a better place than we were before?

[Alex Karp]

I mean, in Iran.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

In Iran. And, and, and vis a vis also what you think it means for Israel?

[Alex Karp]

Well, look, Israel, I don't. Israel. I'm going to leave the, I'm going to leave the Israeli thing for my talking to them in private because I just don't think at this point it's very hard in public to talk about them because you just have people, look, they're legitimate criticisms of Israel. Half the people criticizing Israel just don't believe it should exist. And that's just a fact. And so, like, I'm not going to, like, totally play into their hands by saying things I say in private in America. America has to rep his own interests. Do I think Iran's been degraded? Yes. Are, are there things that I don't think are in the public space that would be comforting people if they are? Yes. And I'll leave it at that.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Wow. Pretty great.

[Katie Kramer]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

To get up from the seat.

[Alex Karp]

You know, I just like, I feel like I'm going to be kicked out of the room.

[Katie Kramer]

No, never. Wide raging conversation. Really appreciate your time.

[Joe Kernan]

No, not like your party. We want you to, we want you to say, can you come back tomorrow?

[Alex Karp]

Yeah, no, I'll come back. I really do appreciate you talking into it.

[Joe Kernan]

Yeah.

[Alex Karp]

You know, the thing I actually like about you guys the most, and I watch you, is just that you actually, and it's very hard to pull this off. You actually have divergent opinions and somehow you guys stay together.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

This is true.

[Becky Quick]

We're still on camera.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Oh, yeah.

[AT&T Business Salesperson]

Well, great.

[Joe Kernan]

That's true.

[Alex Karp]

You actually like. It's, it's, honestly, it's so boring. The other stuff, like. And again, I get kicked out of these rooms. Even if, even if I agreed with you, I would try to disagree with you. It's more fun.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

There's Seema, thank you for bringing Alex here this morning. Thank you for your perspective on this, Alex. Thank you. We appreciate it very, very much. Thanks.

[Joe Kernan]

People live in echo chambers. They need to hear both.

[Alex Karp]

It's so crazy. And I'll tell you, we're off camera now.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

No, we're still going.

[Joe Kernan]

Let me get off camera.

[Becky Quick]

Coming up.

[Joe Kernan]

You're like a mini problem solver's caucus.

[Becky Quick]

Close friends and daughters of frequent Squawk guests, Congressman Josh Gottheimer and DHS Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen have written a children's book about bipartisanship. They'll join us next.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Ever notice how life's best stories don't happen in your living room? They happen on the open road, out on the water, or parked under the stars. At Progressive, they get that you want to focus on the experience, not worry about the what ifs. That's why they offer quality insurance designed for your ride, whether That's a boat, RV or motorcycle adventure with confidence. Visit progressive.com and see how easy it is to protect your favorite way to get away. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates not available in D.C. prices vary based on how you buy.

[Keith Landsford]

This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Landsford for this information packed daily market Preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions, and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and [e-mail] MarketUpdatePodcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts.

[Indeed Sponsored Jobs Announcer]

When the right person joins a team, everything changes. Deadlines tighten, momentum builds, chaos settles down. That's why hiring smart matters. Indeed Sponsored Jobs gets you quality candidates when you need them most. Spend less time searching and more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes with Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Less stress, less time, more results. Listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit at Indeed.com podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs.

[Becky Quick]

You're listening to Squawk Pod up and Becky Q.

Welcome back, everybody. Our next guests are close friends.

[Katie Kramer]

Friends.

[Becky Quick]

Their parents come from different sides of the aisle. Their bond has actually inspired them to write a new children's book on bipartisanship in Washington, D.C. joining us right now is Lara Mullen and Ellie Gottheimer. They are the co authors of Schmo and Ozzie Go to Washington. Lara's father is former Republican Senator of Oklahoma and now DHS Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen. Ellie's father is Congressman Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey. And obviously, both of those gentlemen are frequent guests right here on Squawkbo. Larry and Ella, I want to thank you both for being here today and for coming on to talk about this. This is no joke. You guys are actually close friends.

[Lara Mullen]

Yes, very close. We work out together.

[Ellie Gottheimer]

Yes, that is.

[Becky Quick]

And how long have you two known each other?

[Ellie Gottheimer]

We kind of grew up together. Just our dads have always been friends. And like Lara was saying, we are forced against our will, to go to a bipartisan workout group most mornings when we're in Washington, D.C. so we've kind of trauma bonded over that a little bit.

[Becky Quick]

Yeah. So these forced workouts that we took along the way. You all have this new book. It's called Shmoo and Ozzie Go to Washington. And this is based on your two dogs going to Washington and seeing what it's like in Washington, D.C. what was it like kind of growing up in Washington, D.C. and going there?

[Lara Mullen]

It was definitely very different than when you say the normal childhood. Couple times I felt like Hannah Montana, just like living. Like, I'd go from school, and then right after school we'd fly up to Washington and I'd be in all these amazing meetings and stuff like that. And so it definitely I got a lot of cool experiences.

[Becky Quick]

And you, too, again, your dads come from different sides of the aisle, but they have formed a pretty close partnership and bond, too. What did that kind of teach you as you were growing up, Ellie?

[Ellie Gottheimer]

Yeah, I mean, I think it's so amazing that our dads are able to work together. And it really inspired Lara and I to write this book. And, you know, the idea that even though they're from two completely different sides of the aisle, they're able to be such close friends and work together, and they even can find common ground to agree on. And that's kind of what inspired us to be able to write this book and hopefully educate and have children learn that, you know, even if they're different from one another, they're still able to work together.

[Joe Kernan]

Before Secretary Mullen, before your dad was in. Before he was Secretary of Senate, but before that he was in the House.

[Lara Mullen]

Yes.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

For years.

[Joe Kernan]

How many terms? Yeah. So that's when.

[Ellie Gottheimer]

Yes, that's when they first started working together.

[Joe Kernan]

I got it. So the Oklahoma, New Jersey thing, that didn't.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I've got your decent question about just growing up with the spotlight on your parents and then maybe a little on you in a way. And, like, how did that Feel all of the time. And whether you ever had friends at school who said, I can't believe your dad's doing this, or they're doing that or what's happening. And did you guys. Did you feel that or was it. Or are you always sort of kept separate from that?

[Lara Mullen]

I think they do a good job of keeping politics out of my relationships. And so with my friends, I never talk politics. I never talk. Like, they obviously know who my dad is, and I'm sure some of them don't completely agree with everything. And so I really try my hardest to keep politics out of pretty much everything, just to keep my relationships.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Maybe that's what we all have to do.

[Ellie Gottheimer]

Yeah, exactly. And that's why it's been so nice getting to know Lara, because, you know, we both kind of have had very similar experiences growing up, and we're. Even though, you know, our dads are so different from each other, were able to talk together. But, yeah, it's definitely been a crazy experience growing up, but one that I'm so grateful for. I've had friends say, you know, my parents didn't vote for your dad, and I'll just be like, okay, that's fine. We can just talk about something else. So, yeah, that's something, Larry.

[Joe Kernan]

Like a mini problem solvers caucus. Was your dad in problem solvers? Was that around when he was in the House? Yeah, and he was with Josh, along with that group. Okay.

[Becky Quick]

Do you guys ever get frustrated? Because sometimes it feels like in Washington, not a lot gets done on a bipartisan basis. What do you all see? What do you think about that?

[Lara Mullen]

I see a lot of. I see getting a really bad rep in Washington, and I just see a bunch of like, oh, they're different. You can't be friends, basically. And that's really.

[Ellie Gottheimer]

Yeah, I think that Lehrer and I both kind of saw, you know, we see the actual work that gets done behind the scenes, but a lot of kids our age don't actually see that. So I think what we were trying to do with this book is that before kids really get to social media and before they see all this fighting that's orchestrated on social media, we want to be able to tell them, you know, things actually do happen. People actually work together who are different from each other, and it's not impossible, and it's something that should happen. And, you know, that's what's amazing about us being social media.

[Lara Mullen]

We wanted to show them the side that we see, considering we grew up there, pretty much.

[Becky Quick]

And the proceeds go to help Homeless

[Lara Mullen]

Families Project Night Night. It gives boxes, Night Night boxes to kids under the age of 12 that are homeless. It gives us a cured blanket, a stuffed animal and a book, a children's book.

[Ellie Gottheimer]

And so we thought it was really important to be able to help kids that weren't as fortunate as we were growing up and also hopefully provide some media and like literacy education as well.

[Alex Karp]

All right.

[Becky Quick]

Well, Ellie and Lara, I would just want to say we welcome you here. We appreciate what you all are doing and the message that you're getting out. And thank you for taking the time to be here.

[Ellie Gottheimer]

Thank you so much.

[Becky Quick]

And that is Squawk Pod for today. Thank you for listening. Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Tune in weekday mornings on CNBC at 6 Eastern or get the best of our TV show in an easy to listen to podcast. When you follow Squawk Pod, hit that follow button wherever you're listening now and check us out anytime you want. We'll meet you right back here tomorrow.

[Alex Karp]

We are clear. Thanks, guys.

[Keith Landsford]

Building a portfolio with Fidelity Basket Portfolios is kind of like making a sandwich. It's as simple as picking your stocks and ETFs, sort of like your meats and other topics and managing it as one big juicy investment. Now that's pretty good. Learn [e-mail] Baskets Investing involves risks, including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC Member nyse, SIPC.