Kevin O’Leary: Companies Ignoring AI Are a Bad Investment
‘Mr. Wonderful’ says firms that skip AI are losing on customer growth and ROI
NEW YORK — July 12, 2025: Investor and television personality Kevin O’Leary has made it clear: companies not leveraging artificial intelligence are off his radar. In a recent interview, O’Leary told Cointelegraph that AI is no longer optional — it’s critical to survival and profitability.
O’Leary, best known for his role on Shark Tank, said the cost of acquiring new customers has skyrocketed, especially through content creation and multimedia marketing — increasing more than 4x in just three years, and in some cases, by as much as 10x.
“AI has cut content production costs by 60%,” said O’Leary. “That’s a competitive edge no company should ignore.”
AI Questions First, CEO Second
Before O’Leary considers investing in any business, AI strategy comes first.
“Before I meet the CEO, I want to know who’s running the AI stack — what tools they’re using, how they manage social media, and how they reduce customer acquisition cost,” he said.
According to O’Leary, companies that don’t embrace AI are sacrificing ROI on ad spend and failing to maintain efficient growth.
Beyond Business: AI as a Strategic Asset
The importance of AI, he stressed, goes beyond corporate performance. It is now a matter of national economic power.
“We’re in a tech war with China. AI is the battleground,” O’Leary warned, likening AI chips to queen bees, with developers as the worker bees who build software — or “honey” — around them.
The investor said that sanctions and export restrictions placed on AI chips by the U.S. could end up giving global influence to competitors, allowing countries like China to steer AI development on their own terms.
Backing Infrastructure, Not Just Apps
O’Leary isn’t just theorizing. He’s putting his money into Bitzero, a Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing firm operating in Norway, Finland, and North Dakota — all cold climate regions ideal for data center operations.
“Owning the infrastructure behind Bitcoin and AI is the smarter play,” said O’Leary. “Like the gold rush — the people who sold the shovels and jeans made the real money.”
Source: Bitzero — Image of data center in Namsskogan, Norway will be inserted here.
AI Cold War in Numbers
From 2013 to 2024, U.S. private AI investment has outpaced most countries, but O’Leary warns that China is closing in, emphasizing the need for continued leadership in chip design and AI software ecosystems.
Share ThisSource: Visual Capitalist — Image showing AI investment by country to be inserted here.
