Kevin O’Leary Says the Next Big AI Opportunity May Be Outside Big Tech

Kevin O’Leary is looking beyond the biggest technology companies as artificial intelligence reshapes the investment landscape. The Shark Tank investor argues that the rapid expansion of AI is creating opportunities not only in software and chips, but also in the infrastructure required to power the technology.

Speaking this week about AI, business and investing, O’Leary highlighted the enormous amounts of electricity required by modern data centers. His view is that as companies continue building increasingly powerful AI systems, access to reliable energy could become one of the industry’s most important constraints.

That has influenced where O’Leary says he is focusing his attention. Rather than simply increasing his exposure to major AI technology stocks, he has discussed opportunities connected with electricity generation and uranium. He has described this as a “picks and shovels” approach — investing around the infrastructure supporting a technological boom rather than trying to identify which individual AI company will ultimately dominate.

O’Leary is already closely involved with the data-center sector. Through his business activities, he has backed large infrastructure projects designed to provide computing capacity and the energy required to operate it. Earlier this year, CoinDesk reported that he was expanding his land holdings for projects connected with AI infrastructure and Bitcoin mining.

At the same time, the investor remains interested in digital assets. In September, O’Leary said he was buying new crypto positions and watching for a major stock exchange to adopt blockchain technology, which he believes could represent an important step toward broader institutional use of digital assets.

His latest comments illustrate how his investment thesis is evolving. Instead of treating artificial intelligence, energy and digital assets as completely separate industries, O’Leary increasingly presents them as parts of the same technological transformation.

For O’Leary, the central question is becoming less about which AI application will attract the most attention and more about who will provide the energy, computing infrastructure and financial technology needed to keep the digital economy running.