Canadian billionaire and former Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary feels that fear of China’s rise will be the driving force behind deeper economic integration between the United States, Canada and Mexico. According to a report by Business Insider, O’Leary posted a video on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) in which the venture capitalist said that covers over China’s advances in AI, technology, warfare and power generation will outweigh political disagreements across North America. O’Leary argued that each country brings unique strengths to the table: “Canada has the energy and critical minerals, the United States has the scale and innovation, and Mexico plays a vital role in the North American economy,” he said. He added that cooperation is not just good policy but “an economic necessity” as the race for AI, energy, and critical infrastructure accelerates.
The rising Chinese competition
The made by O’Leary come amid the growing recognition of China’s technological momentum. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also recently told Economist that China already produces far more electricity than the US and it could become the world’s AI leader if it manages to secure enough computing power. American AI labs OpenAI and Anthropic have also warned that Chinese rivals are closing the gap, with Beijing-based Moonshot AI drawing attention for its Kimi K3 model.Automobile executives including Ford CEO Jim Farley, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi have repeatedly highlighted Chinese automakers’ dominance in electric vehicle production. Despite this, North America remains fragmented, with President Donald Trump recently imposing 50% tariffs on some Canadian goods.
One of ‘biggest AI problems’ is forcing American and European companies to use Chinese models
Recently, it was revealed that the cost of running sophisticated AI is pushing companies away from American labs toward China, a report has said, claiming that businesses ranging from Silicon Valley startups to European industrial giants are quietly replacing top-tier US AI models with cheaper Chinese alternatives, and integrating them into their business operations.A report by The Financial Times claims that household brands like DoorDash, Airbnb and German engineering giant Siemens have all adopted AI tools built in China. The mass migration is being fueled by a corporate race to solve the industry’s biggest headache: the ballooning cost of using AI caused by a sudden shift from flat-rate subscriptions to usage-based billing.Faced with massive bills, companies appear to have realised they no longer need the absolute most advanced and expensive model to handle everyday business routines. Chinese models from groups like DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and Z.ai have rapidly overtaken their US rivals in text and data processing efficiency, the report claims.
