Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar Challenges Automation's Potential As Selling Pressure Mounts: 'What Have We Been Doing For 20 Years?'
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar highlighted the limitations of automation in enterprise artificial intelligence, as the data analytics firm faces renewed scrutiny over its soaring valuation and recent institutional selling.
What Happened: “If all of the value is in automation, what have we been doing for the last 20 years with self-driving cars? We’ve been handling edge cases,” Sankar stated, emphasizing that automation’s effectiveness is constrained by exceptional scenarios that require human oversight.
The comments come as Cathie Wood‘s ARK Invest sold 196,728 PLTR shares worth approximately $15 million across its flagship funds, including ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE:ARKK) and ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (NYSE:ARKW).
The sale follows Morgan Stanley‘s recent “underweight” rating and $60 price target, despite the stock’s remarkable 355% surge over the past year.
Why It Matters: The institutional selling presents a stark contrast to CNBC host Jim Cramer‘s bullish stance, who recently indicated interest in adding PLTR to his portfolio. The stock has attracted increased attention amid reports that Sankar is being considered for a top Pentagon research position.
Wedbush Securities Managing Director Dan Ives identifies Palantir as a leader in enterprise AI transformation, though government revenue growth slowed to 10% in 2023 from over 20% in 2022.
Trading at a reported 80% premium compared to high-growth software peers, PLTR closed at $68.23 on Wednesday, with analyst price targets ranging widely from UBS’s $80 to Wolfe Research’s $7.50, reflecting the market’s divided outlook on the company’s valuation.
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