Kevin O'Leary Bets on Bitzero as the Power Backbone for AI
Kevin O'Leary isn't chasing the latest AI equity winners. He's aiming one layer lower—at the electricity and data-center capacity that AI computing can't function without.
The "Shark Tank" personality, widely known as "Mr. Wonderful," has taken an early stake in Bitzero Holdings Inc., a Canadian developer of sustainable data centers used for Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing. O'Leary frames Bitzero as a "power real estate company," positioning it as infrastructure rather than a crypto-token or software bet.
Bitzero began trading on Nasdaq on June 9, 2026, under ticker AIBZ. It also trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange as BITZ.U and has fully exited OTCQB trading.
The infrastructure case behind the investment
Bitzero says it has locked in long-term electricity contracts priced between 4 and 6 cents per kWh across locations including Norway, Finland, and North Dakota.
On the commercial side, the company signed a 15-year lease on May 5, 2026, with OneQode Networks covering 110 megawatts of power capacity at Bitzero's Namsskogan site in Norway. Bitzero projects the agreement could generate roughly $2.6 billion in revenue over the full term.
Ahead of its public listing, the company raised more than $100 million in private funding. It also says it now controls more than 1 gigawatt of scalable power capacity across its footprint. O'Leary describes Bitzero as one of his core infrastructure holdings for crypto exposure.
Why shifting from Bitcoin to AI matters
Bitcoin mining and AI computing share the same basic constraints: massive power draw, heavy cooling requirements, and low-latency connectivity. AI workloads often deliver higher revenue per megawatt-hour than Bitcoin mining, particularly when Bitcoin prices are not surging.
Bitzero's Nordic focus targets energy mixes where hydroelectric and wind power can be both low-cost and renewable. The company says it is also building relationships with CBRE and Hydra Host to market AI-ready data centers across Nordic regions.
Investor takeaway
O'Leary once drew headlines for calling Bitcoin "garbage" on national television. His pivot from crypto skeptic to infrastructure advocate underscores a broader theme: investor attention is moving toward the picks-and-shovels layer of AI and crypto.
The International Energy Agency has projected data-center power demand could double by 2030. Bitzero's $2.6 billion projection tied to the OneQode partnership remains dependent on long-range assumptions, including power pricing, technology shifts, and counterparty risk—variables that can look very different by year seven of a 15-year deal.
Elsewhere in the sector, Core Scientific has recently secured a multibillion-dollar AI hosting deal with CoreWeave. Hut 8 has been expanding its AI-focused capacity. Applied Digital is building large-scale data centers designed for AI workloads.
