Alex Karp, the CEO of controversial tech company Palantir, raised eyebrows during a recent live interview with the New York Times. In a viral video of the discussion, Karp defended his company to the Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin, gesturing dramatically with his arms, bouncing up and down on his chair, and struggling to make his point.
Palantir’s X account shared the video on Sunday morning and announced Karp is launching The Neurodivergent Fellowship: “If you find yourself relating to [Karp] in this video — unable to sit still, or thinking faster than you can speak — we encourage you to apply.”
Palantir announced Karp himself would conduct final interviews for the fellowship. In a reply to the first message on X, the company included an application link to the fellowship, which is available in Palantir’s New York City and Washington, D.C. offices.
“The current LLM tech landscape positions [neurodivergent people] to dominate,” according to the application. “Pattern recognition. Non-linear thinking. Hyperfocus. The cognitive traits that make the neurodivergent different are precisely what make them exceptional in an AI-driven world.”
Palantir, a data and analytics company co-founded by conservative “kingmaker” Peter Thiel, was quick to argue that the fellowship is not a DEI initiative.
“Palantir is launching the Neurodivergent Fellowship as a recruitment pathway for exceptional neurodivergent talent,” according to the application, “This is not a diversity initiative. We believe neurodivergent individuals will have a competitive advantage as elite builders of the next technological era, and we’re hiring accordingly for all roles.”
Thank you for your explanatory responses. I decided to look up an authoritative definition for myself. According to what I found, it isn’t a medical term and doesn’t have a medical definition, so means whatever people say it means. Which is I guess how language always works, it is just that it is a new word with roots that imply a broader meaning.
The lists generally exclude personality disorders, but this doesn’t seem logical to me, although I am not a neurologist. I thought all brain differences arise or manifest as differences in the brain structure.
https://www.umassp.edu/inclusive-by-design/who-before-how/understanding-disabilities/neurodivergence
https://www.uhhospitals.org/blog/articles/2025/06/what-does-it-mean-to-be-neurodivergent
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neurodivergent
I’m happy to hear that you looked up some of this for yourself. I figured that it was the definitions that were catching you more than the concepts.
The DSM has some very odd references in it. For instance, “retarded” is a technical definition that exists and is a possible diagnosis even though society has long moved passed that concept. Mental health is weird.