Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban sees artificial intelligence as both a critical necessity and a flawed tool for businesses. While he believes AI is transformative and essential for long-term success, he warns that companies failing to use it correctly risk falling behind or even collapsing. During a recent call with Adam Joseph, founder of Clipbook, Cuban emphasized that the future will be divided into two groups: companies that master AI and those that don’t. “There's going to be two types of companies: those who are great at AI, and everybody else,” he said. “And the 'everybody else' is going to fail because AI is such a transformative tool.” Cuban compared the current state of AI to the early stages of a game—still in the first inning of the first preseason. Despite generative AI tools like ChatGPT being available for over three years, and machine learning existing for decades, he believes the real revolution is just beginning. Major tech firms including OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Elon Musk’s xAI are investing tens of billions in the race to dominate AI, but Cuban remains uncertain about who will ultimately win. He stressed that AI is not a one-size-fits-all solution. While powerful, AI tools are “stupid” in the sense that they lack true understanding and often generate incorrect or misleading responses. Yet, he noted, they possess an almost superhuman ability to recall vast amounts of information and synthesize it quickly. “AI is stupid,” he said, “but it's somebody who's a savant that remembers everything.” He likened AI to a person with a perfect memory who can instantly pull together facts, but without the ability to reason or judge. Cuban also highlighted key limitations. AI systems can be outdated, rely on flawed data, and offer no clear explanation for their conclusions—making them opaque and potentially unreliable. He warned that businesses using AI without understanding its flaws could end up wasting time and money, or even exposing sensitive information. One major risk is data leakage. Employees using standard versions of AI tools like ChatGPT may inadvertently share confidential company data. Similarly, businesses that publish content online—especially in proposals or research—may be training AI models for free. Cuban warned that sharing intellectual property publicly now could be a strategic mistake, as it feeds the very systems meant to compete with a company’s own innovations. He urged researchers, academics, and business leaders to rethink the traditional “publish or perish” mindset. Instead, they must carefully consider what information to protect, how to share it, and whether to commercialize it or keep it proprietary. In the AI era, intellectual property is more valuable than ever—more so than gold or oil. Ultimately, Cuban’s message is clear: AI is not a magic fix, but a powerful lever. Companies that invest in understanding it, use it wisely, and protect their data will thrive. Those that treat it as a black box or use it carelessly will be left behind.