No. 20: Alex Karp and Josh Kushner: From AI battlefields to billion-dollar deals

They both fight in a field most people don’t have access to: inside directors’ boards, where getting the facts straight can mean the difference between an investment and a boycott.

Jewish-American entrepreneurs are among Israel’s biggest supporters, and two household names have taken that commitment to another level: Alex Karp and Josh Kushner. They both fight in a field most people don’t have access to: inside directors’ boards, where getting the facts straight can mean the difference between an investment and a boycott.

Alex Karp

Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, called himself the “most publicly supportive CEO of Israel” while speaking on July 2 with CNBC’s Squawk Box. And it’s not only in the saying. The company has been a key asset for the Defense Ministry, with the data platforms supporting military operations and bringing more accuracy.

As a symbol of solidarity with the country, Karp organized a board meeting in Tel Aviv in 2024, at the height of the Israel-Hamas War, telling CNBC that he firmly believes “Israel is the good guy”.

Besides the support, Karp’s Palantir played a key role in processing the images, videos, and data gathered by IDF drones and soldiers on the ground during fighting, with their AI systems being the key to identifying threats, terrorists, and even potential targets. According to reports, they were used on every front, from Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen to the wars with Iran. These systems use AI to create a real-time timeline of the objective’s network, relationships, possible next objectives, and the most precise way to reach them.

Joshua Kushner

The Kushner family has been in the spotlight lately because of Jared Kushner’s role in diplomatic negotiations in the Middle East as a special envoy for the US government in the Trump administration. But his brother Joshua became the main talking point in August after deciding to buy a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, in a record-setting deal reportedly worth $12.5 billion.

Kushner, an entrepreneur who manages the Thrive Capital fund and is co-founder and vice-chairman of Oscar Health, has been aiming to become a key sports businessman for several years. Before this purchase, he held a minority stake in the Miami Heat, which he will need to sell to acquire the Lakers.

His fund was also at the center of the controversy when it tried to buy a stake in FIFA’s World Cup competitions, something that was seen positively by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, but that ended in backlash due to widespread criticism by soccer’s top directors.

And while his brother Jared, is more publicly known for his work in Israel, the whole family has a history of donating to the Jewish community and Israel, including the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, and several others. Joshua’s fund is well known for investing in influential projects, including OpenAI, GitHub, Instagram, and Spotify, as well as Israeli unicorns.

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