Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary says the US is falling behind China in the race to power the next wave of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
In a new Fox Business Interview, O’Leary says America’s biggest limitation is its electric grid, which he notes can’t support the scale of data center construction the AI boom now demands.
He says he is directly involved in AI-related data center development and has seen a widening gap emerge between US and Chinese power capacity.
“Yeah, we have the tech too, but I must tell you, right now, and I think others would agree with me on this, I’m involved in AI in multiple ways, but lately building data centers to provide the engine for growth in AI, the Chinese are kicking our ass right now.”
He highlights that China’s ability to immediately build new energy sources gives it an edge in supporting the rapidly rising electrical demands of data centers. He also says Chinese leadership can greenlight new power generation without delay, rapidly scaling both electricity and AI infrastructure.
“They are, I’ll tell you why. They have the power. They are not being held back by a regulatory environment that stops them from building more power. Every time the Supreme Leader wants another generation of power, he builds a coal plant, and he fires that up, and he generates electricity, and puts a data center beside it.”
While China is ahead of the energy-generation game, O’Leary says the US still has a distinct advantage.
“They don’t have the tech chips yet, but they’re kicking our heinies on power generation, which is the core to everything AI. So I would say right now our grid is tapped out, and the Chinese are kicking our butts.”
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