Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary says college protesters are ‘screwed’

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary has warned that students who have taken part in pro-Palestine protests recently may be “screwed” when they are applying for jobs in the future.

Mr O’Leary’s remarks came amid a wave of protests across campuses in the US over Joe Biden’s Israel policy, which have seen hundreds of people arrested.

The protests began at Columbia University, where protesters were demanding that their university divest from companies with ties to Israel, and have since spread to other campuses including NYU and UCLA, after more than 100 people, including students, were arrested for trespassing at Columbia, with the university also suspending some students for taking part in the protests.

Since then, opinion has been divided as to how universities should respond to the protests, with some Jewish leaders arguing that demonstrators should be punished for making Jewish and Israeli citizens feel at risk, while the American Civil Liberties Union has warned that the protests “cannot be prohibited or punished by a university that respects free speech principles”.

Meanwhile, others have warned of additional consequences protesters may face in the future, including in the job market.

Businessman and Shark Tank judge Kevin O’Leary told Fox News that students who are recorded protesting could face long-term consequences for their actions due to the use of AI in hiring processes.

“There’s plenty of consequences for all those people. Even an image that far away, AI can generate by the way the body moves. I can’t believe the stuff I find in background checks now. These people are screwed,” he said.

He added that due to the use of high-quality cameras to record footage of protests that are then posted on social media, employers may be able to find evidence of a person participating in illegal or otherwise potentially objectionable behaviour and opt not to hire them.

“Every single image, even at night now, goes into an AI generator and will tell you who that individual is,” he said.

Mr O’Leary continued: “I hire people. I have a lot of companies. I’ve hired thousands of people. Within weeks, I’m going to be able when we’re doing your background check, I’m going to find this because it’s going to be in there on the dark web.”