Canadian billionaire Kevin O’Leary just told everyone how AI is not just about painful layoffs

Canadian billionaire and former Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary is once again pushing back against the narrative that artificial intelligence is only about painful job cuts. In a post shared on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) O’Leary said that AI has “quietly unlocked some of the biggest opportunities I’ve seen in content and marketing.” He also pointed out to a rapid shift in how companies allocate advertising dollars, noting that enterprises often spend up to 15% of revenue on marketing and customer acquisition. “If you have a tool or you have the ability to use AI to create content that helps maintain customer relations or acquire new ones, you are incredibly valuable,” O’Leary explained.

Independent creative cashing in

In the interview clip shared in X, O’Leary contrasted the past with today’s AI-driven opportunities. “Five years ago, if you came out of an art school, you were offered $28,000 starting,” he said. Now, he added, independent creatives are bypassing traditional jobs and earning six-figure incomes — sometimes as much as half a million dollars annually. “This is not fiction, this is fact. I’m paying that out,” he emphasised, stressing that measurable returns drive compensation.

Warning on US power shortages

While bullish on AI’s economic impact, O’Leary has also warned about a looming challenge which is America’s power grid. He argued last month that one of the biggest risk in the growth on AI is not hype but a shortage of electricity. “Here’s our problem… We have no power,” he said, noting that China added 500 gigawatts in 24 months while the U.S. added none. Without major infrastructure upgrades, he cautioned, the U.S. cannot sustain the data centers needed for the next phase of AI.Recently, ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt also warned about the same. He also raised an alarm over America’s energy capacity. In a video shared on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Schmidt said that America needs an additional 92 gigawatts of power to sustain the rapid growth of artificial intelligence. In the video, Schmidt has cautioned that the US is ‘running out of electricity’, highlighting the strain posed by massive data centers, intensive cooling requirements and round-the-clock operations.However, O’Leary maintains that AI is already embedded across all 11 sectors of the economy, boosting productivity and profits. But he insists the conversation must shift from fear of layoffs to recognition of the new wealth being created.