Kevin O'Leary warns China 'kicking our heinies' in AI race as regulatory roadblocks stall US

China is racing ahead of the U.S. in artificial intelligence (AI), bypassing regulatory roadblocks that O'Leary Ventures Chairman Kevin O’Leary warns are leaving America dangerously behind.

"[China is] kicking our heinies in advancing AI," the "Shark Tank" investor warned Sunday. 

"The way they're doing it is they understand AI equals power. Power equals AI, and I mean electricity."

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O'Leary told "One Nation" host Brian Kilmeade that the U.S. rival has largely skipped regulatory roadblocks, such as years-long permitting that stalls domestic output in America.

"They don't have to deal with permitting," O'Leary said. 

"The supreme leader says, let's put down a 1.4 gig facility right here, build it in the next 11 months. We have to go through seven years of permitting in North America, so we're falling behind in just the capacity to compute. That's a huge issue."

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O'Leary, who has long sounded the alarm on China's push for dominance across several sectors, insisted it is imperative the U.S. fix its regulatory environment, warning that China will use its advantage for both economic and military dominance.

He also dismissed a prevalent unease with the rising technology, telling Kilmeade AI is simply the next innovation.

"People are always concerned about change. And obviously, you could talk about color television, wiping out radio. It never happened…" he said.

"AI is just a tool. That's all it is."