Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp criticized AI labs for their token-based pricing approach, stating that the era of “tokenmaxxing” is fading as enterprises seek lower-cost, higher-value AI deployments amid rising model expenses. Speaking to CNBC, Karp said businesses are increasingly focused on generating returns instead of consuming more AI tokens, and are turning toward open-weight models and developing proprietary AI systems for greater efficiency while maintaining control over data, computing resources and AI models. He argued that ownership of the AI technology stack is becoming a strategic priority for corporate customers. Karp also cautioned that China is making rapid progress in AI development and should not be underestimated. His comments follow Palantir’s expanded collaboration with Nvidia to build customized AI solutions for US government agencies and the company’s newly released “AI sovereignty” framework promoting enterprise control over AI resources.