'Shark Tank' Star Issues Urgent Warning to EVERY American Who Owns a Smartphone After China Fires First Shot in Global AI War
Kevin O'Leary had a warning for all Americans with cell phones.
Jan. 29 2025, Published 5:00 p.m. ET
Shark Tank entrepreneur Kevin O'Leary has a harsh warning for cell phone users, in light of the massive tech stock selloff earlier this week.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the man known as Mr. Wonderful are in a technological war with China – and they're winning.
Stocks plummeted early Monday morning.
The stock market crumbled early Monday morning, amid fears a Chinese startup developed an AI model that seems to be able to do anything its U.S.-based counterparts can – at a fraction of the cost.
That sent technology stocks into a freefall, as investors dumped a staggering $1trillion worth of technology stocks in a panic.
But businessman O'Leary says that's only the first shot in an ongoing battle.
He warned: "Make no mistake, America is in a technological arms race with China, as it was with the Soviets, decades ago. And it is past time to focus America's incredible economic, creative and industrial strength on winning the AI war."
O'Leary said the first shots have been fired in the AI war.
O'Leary, who has a wide portfolio of technological-based companies, said in this day and age, artificial intelligence translates to military supremacy, and whoever commands the best AI will win wars in the future.
In an editorial in the Daily Mail, he wrote: "AI can be used to power autonomous weapon systems, command fleets of drones and detect, track, and engage enemy threats in real time.
"If China is able to create more intelligent, faster and cheaper AI models than the US, they can use that to develop more effective weapons too."
Technology stocks shed over a trillion dollars worth of value.
Last week Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek unveiled a new chatbot that it says can do whatever Google and Open AI can do for much less money.
For example, DeepSeek said one of its latest AI models cost just $5.6million to train. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s GPT model cost more than $100million to train.
Not long after its big debut, DeepSeek was the top download on Apple's store - shooting past OpenAI's ChatGPT - as thousands of Americans loaded it onto their phones.
But O'Leary warns the foreign program poses an immediate threat to America's security.
He wrote: "The American people have to be on their guard. If you download the app, you better ask who's watching and who's listening. From what I can tell, it scrapes your emails and personal data."
'The American people have to be on their guard,' O'Leary stated.
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O'Leary urged Americans to use products made in the U.S.A. as opposed to their Chinese counterparts, but "if I ever did use DeepSeek, I'd download it onto the same burner phone that I use for Chinese-owned TikTok."
The U.S. has long been at the forefront of cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology, and U.S. based companies like Nvidia, which calls California home, have greatly benefited. That in turn has helped fuel the stock market to new highs.
Nvidia makes the pricey high-end chips that help train the AI models. The company has grown to be one of the largest in the world and was thought to have cornered the market on tech.
But now investors fear foreign-based AI models may require fewer chips – and even less energy to power them.
The TV star, however, has faith, saying: "I believe that the US, under the leadership of President Donald Trump, is well positioned to win in this sphere if it continues to invest in AI."
