To outsiders, Alex Karp seems an unlikely choice to lead Palantir. A philosopher by training, the billionaire co-founder has built his business at the intersection of intelligence, warfare and AI. To supporters, his software helps defend open societies. To critics, it gives governments troubling power to surveil and control.

In this interview, Karp tells Walter how dyslexia helped him bring together the impossible at Palantir, how Silicon Valley broke its contract with the rest of Americans, and why there needs to be a better way to re-distribute wealth. A conversation about national purpose, the Constitution and the trade-offs Karp is willing to make to keep the world safe.

Interview taped August 6, 2026.

And be sure to pick up Walter Isaacson’s The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution, wherever fine books are sold.

ABOUT THE HOST
Walter Isaacson is the bestselling author of biographies of Elon Musk, Jennifer Doudna, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein. He is a professor of history at Tulane University and previously served as CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair and CEO of CNN, and editor of Time. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2023.

ABOUT ALEX KARP
Alex Karp is the co-founder and CEO of Palantir. He co-wrote The Technological Republic and launched the sovereign AI movement.

IN THIS SEASON
Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX, xAI)
Peter Thiel (Founders Fund, PayPal, Palantir)
Mustafa Suleyman (Microsoft AI, DeepMind)
Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei (Anthropic)
and more!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the leader of Y Combinator, the startup accelerator behind Airbnb, Stripe and DoorDash, Garry Tan backs founders with the ambition to change how we live. Tan wants more billionaires, but he also believes big tech has too much power. So, how does he square that?

Garry and Walter discuss how a 10-minute interview is all you need to vet a transformative founder, why he fears a future controlled by five AI “kings,” and how personal AI could put your social media feed back in your hands. A chat about how to lift the gatekeeping in Silicon Valley and the responsibility that comes with choosing who gets through.

Interview taped June 19, 2026.

And be sure to pick up Walter Isaacson’s The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution, wherever fine books are sold.

ABOUT THE HOST
Walter Isaacson is the bestselling author of biographies of Elon Musk, Jennifer Doudna, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein. He is a professor of history at Tulane University and previously served as CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair and CEO of CNN, and editor of Time. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2023.

ABOUT GARRY TAN
Garry is President & CEO at Y Combinator, which he rejoined in Fall 2023 after founding Initialized Capital. Garry was one of YC’s first partners and funded and advised iconic YC companies including Coinbase, Instacart, and many others. In YC’s early days, Garry also served as a designer and engineer. Before advising and investing in companies, Garry co-founded the blog platform Posterous (acquired by Twitter in 2012) and was an early employee at Palantir and designed its logo.

IN THIS SEASON
Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX, xAI)
Peter Thiel (Founders Fund, PayPal, Palantir)
Mustafa Suleyman (Microsoft AI, DeepMind)
Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei (Anthropic)
Garry Tan (Y Combinator, Initialized Capital)
and more!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episodes three and four of The Builders with Walter Isaacson explore two poles of the AI safety debate through interviews with Daniela and Dario Amodei, co-founders of Anthropic, and Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI.

Joining Kaleidoscope co-founders Oz Woloshyn and Mangesh Hattikudur to unpack these interviews are two journalists who have spent countless hours trying to understand what drives those leading the AI revolution.

Sebastian Mallaby is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind and the Quest for Superintelligence. Nitasha Tiku is a Silicon Valley culture and AI reporter for The Washington Post… and may have read every manifesto Dario Amodei has produced.

Listen to hear what they make of the Amodei siblings’ dynamic, Mustafa’s views on AI consciousness, and the competing visions shaping AI’s future.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.