Mark Cuban says AI companies should spend billions to support towns and cities facing job losses, arguing they’re losing a public relations battle by not putting people first. He also urges companies to meet creatives in person and rejects the idea of paying c
For AI executives, Mark Cuban’s message arrives with a blunt deadline: start spending now, and spend it where the job losses land.
In a Thursday post on X. the billionaire former “Shark Tank” investor wrote that AI companies need to begin spending money “to help towns and cities that may be impacted by job losses.” His point wasn’t abstract. Cuban argued that these companies are losing a PR battle with the masses and have to “start courting them.”.
“Billions of dollars is a lot of money across towns and city programs. Across the major LLMs, it’s a cost of doing business,” Cuban wrote, framing the scale of investment as proportionate to what the industry already spends.
He also sharpened the criticism. “One thing I have learned is being hated is not good for business,” Cuban said, adding that big AI companies “all suck at putting people first.”
Cuban didn’t stop at job markets. He said creatives are another group being hit by the AI shift. writing that “every creative he knows is terrified about what AI will do to their profession.” To win them over. he argued. AI companies must change how they engage—turning away from broad messaging and toward direct support.
“Companies need to go to artists in LA and NYC and talk to them about providing financial and creative support to win them over,” Cuban wrote.
“You must meet them face to face and basically do what they say,” he added.
He contrasted that approach with what he called a shallow tactic: paying famous people to endorse AI. “On the flip side,” Cuban wrote, “he said AI companies paying famous people to endorse their activities was a ‘dumb’ idea.”
Cuban tied his argument to practical operational needs too. writing that given the scale of data centers and the power required “today and going forward. ” companies will “fall far far short of the capacity you need to make your business work” if they don’t “kiss the asses of the people that go to work every day. and are just trying to pay their bills.”.
His post lands as AI-linked job losses have accelerated this year. At least 16 companies in the US have announced that they were laying off staff because of AI-affiliated job redundancies, including Snap, Cisco, and Coinbase.
The backlash is also showing up in public spaces. Cuban referenced pushback at college graduation ceremonies, where speakers who mention AI getting booed.
Put together. the facts in Cuban’s comments paint a clear insistence: the debate over AI isn’t only about technology and efficiency. It’s about where companies direct their money when livelihoods come under pressure—and whether the industry decides to face the people affected rather than court the crowd from a distance.
Mark Cuban AI companies job losses PR battle data centers layoffs Snap Cisco Coinbase creatives LA and NYC graduation boos endorsements
So basically pay for people to be okay with AI?
I mean… meeting creatives in person sounds nice but will that actually stop layoffs? Also PR battle? feels like they’re just trying to look good while still replacing folks.
Mark Cuban always talks like he’s the smartest investor in the room, but isn’t he also part of the “tech takes over everything” problem? Like AI job losses happen because companies cut costs, so paying billions doesn’t change that it’s still gonna happen.
Wait I thought AI companies already fund scholarships and stuff? Or is that just for their employees? Also ‘being hated isn’t good for business’… okay but regular people are the ones getting blamed for the hate too. And meeting artists in LA/NYC like the jobs are only there? I’m sure rural towns don’t get any of that money anyway.