Kevin O'Leary emphasizes AI's role in reducing customer acquisition costs

Kevin O’Leary, a noted investor and TV figure, underscores the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on reducing the financial burden of acquiring new customers. He argues that any enterprise overlooking AI is not an advisable investment.

During a conversation with Cointelegraph, O’Leary highlighted that acquiring new customers predominantly revolves around creating content and multimedia marketing, marking it as “the highest cost increase in the last 36 months.”

“When you look at the cost of creation of that content, it has more than quadrupled. In some cases, it’s 10x,” remarked O’Leary, pointing out that AI has slashed content production expenses by 60%.

Before committing to any investment, O’Leary makes it a point to question businesses about their AI utilization:

“Before I meet the CEO, I want to know who is running the show in terms of generating and maintaining customer acquisition, customer growth, reducing customer acquisition cost, and increasing ROI on ad spend.”

“My first question is, who is running your AI program? What stacks are you on? What tools are you using, and who is doing your social media?”

While the cost benefits for businesses are substantial, O’Leary emphasized the strategic importance of AI for ensuring the U.S. maintains its lead in this critical sector.

Investment in Bitzero

O’Leary’s investment in Bitzero, a Bitcoin (BTC) mining entity with data centers in Norway, Finland, and North Dakota, reflects his interest in vital infrastructure.

He told Cointelegraph that holding the infrastructure for Bitcoin and AI might be more sustainable and lucrative than the operations these structures assist.

“It’s the old analogy from the gold days hundreds of years ago. The guys who made the most money with the least risk sold the jeans and the picks and shovels,” he commented.

US and China are in AI cold war

O’Leary asserts, “We are in a technological war with China — we really are,” likening AI chips to the queen bee and AI developers to worker bees.

According to him, developers congregate around new AI chips to produce “honey” or computer code.

O’Leary explains that by restricting the use of US-built AI chips through sanctions and trade policies, other nations can advance their own AI ecosystems.