CES 2020: Mark Cuban is betting big on AI; urges entrepreneurs to do the same

Investor Mark Cuban has an emphatic message for entrepreneurs, businesses, and the government – invest in artificial intelligence (AI) technology or risk becoming'a dinosaur' very soon. Speaking at the CES 2020 event, the world's most influential annual consumer technology conference, at Las Vegas, Nevada, the serial entrepreneur and Shark Tank investor also voiced his own passion for all things AI-related, adding that he is betting big on AI and investing in startups and businesses that leverage AI to innovate and create meaningful, world-changing impact. Mark Cuban emphasised the need for the US government to be involved in developing AI technology and supporting its use, saying this was a national priority akin to the need to invest in and stay ahead of the space mission in the 1950s. The billionaire – who has invested in several healthtech startups such as Eon Health and Genetesis that leverage AI technology – also stressed on the need for entrepreneurs and businesses to understand AI technology and include it in their strategic long-term plans in order to stay relevant in the years to come. "If you're an #entrepreneur & if you don't know #AI, then you're the equivalent of somebody in 1999 saying, "I'm sure this internet thing will be okay but I don't give a shit." Going forward, the world will quickly be defined by'AI haves' and'AI have-nots,' said Mark Cuban, who admitted that he's been taking tutorials and classes on AI and machine learning (ML) on AWS and on Coursera to better understand the technology. Still, there are challenges in integrating AI technology, with small companies finding it the hardest unlike the big tech majors like Google, Amazon, and Facebook that can invest billions of dollars on AI and go through trial and error to understand what works and doesn't work, Mark Cuban said. "Then underneath those companies (tech behemoths) are the multibillion-dollar companies.