Palantir Launches "Neurodivergent Fellowship" After Viral Video of CEO Alex Karp Fidgeting

Palantir announced a new "Neurodivergent Fellowship" days after a video of CEO Alex Karp visibly unable to sit still during an onstage interview went viral. The company says the program is a recruitment pathway for "exceptional neurodivergent talent" and emphasizes the effort is "not a diversity initiative."

In a post on X, Palantir encouraged people who "relate to CEO Alex Karp in being unable to sit still, or thinking faster than you can speak" to apply. The announcement quoted Karp:

"The neurally divergent (like myself) will disproportionately shape America's future."

The job listing describes the Neurodivergent Fellowship as a targeted recruitment track. Palantir said the final round of interviews for the program will be conducted by Karp himself. The role is listed as New York or Washington, D.C.–based, with compensation between $110,000 and $200,000 per year.

The fellowship follows renewed attention to Karp after his onstage interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin at The New York Times' DealBook Summit, where footage of his restless body language circulated widely online. Commenting on that clip, A16z general partner Katherine Boyle wrote on X:

"Every pre-school teacher in America should be required to watch this video of Alex Karp being completely unable to sit still in his chair."

Beyond the viral video, Karp used the DealBook conversation to defend Palantir's historically secretive approach to its work and to praise then-President Donald Trump's immigration policies — remarks that drew attention alongside the viral footage.

Karp did not specify any particular diagnosis in his statement, though he has previously said he has dyslexia. In a recent interview with Wired, he said, "Doing what everybody else wants me to do is much harder for a dyslexic like me than a non dyslexic," adding, "Maybe I'm not everyone's cup of tea, but I kind of like being me on most days."

Neurodiversity is an umbrella term that includes conditions such as ADHD, autism, Tourette's syndrome, dyslexia, and dyspraxia. Business Insider originally reported on Palantir's fellowship and the viral video.