Kevin O'Leary Says Employers Will Screen Out Ivy League Anti-Israel Student Protestors While Hiring Using AI: 'These People Are Screwed'

Kevin O’Leary, the venture capitalist famous for his role on ABC's Shark Tank, believes that students protesting against Israel over its attacks on Palestine are ruining their job prospects.

What Happened: While student protests date back a hundred years, the protests in the 60s and 70s were documented on film and had poor resolution unlike now when all footage is shot in 1080p or 4k resolution, O’Leary said.

“We see you now. All you need is to have your eyes exposed…and for the rest of your life, you’re in this pile!”

These images will be identified by the artificial intelligence employed by employers during their background check, leaving them unemployed, he said. For every person whose picture of burning a flag turns up, employers can find another with a clear record, he added.

“These people are screwed,” O’Leary said on Fox News‘ ‘The Five’ chat show on Wednesday.

Leary said in another interview this week that he would continue to hire from universities like UCLA and Columbia where protests are taking place, but these would be on an individual basis, he clarified.

Why It Matters: As per an Associated Press report, there have been over 2,400 arrests across 46 campuses in the U.S. since April 17 over anti-war protests. Pro-palestinian students are protesting Israel’s attacks on Gaza after Oct. 7 when Hamas militants killed about 1200 people in an attack on southern Israel. Since then, however, Israel has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, as per Gaza health authorities.

Earlier, Tom Gimbel, Founder and CEO of LaSalle Network, shared his concerns on CNBC's Last Call about the increasing discomfort among recruiters due to the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University. Gimbel explained that while earlier recruiters were determined to recruit and interview only Ivy League graduates, historically considered the "smartest," the trend might be changing. "They didn't entertain anybody else for a lot of roles. Now what's going to happen is they are going to open up the bottleneck." 

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