Debate: AI unemployment, the Iran war, and what comes next

May 28, 2026

A heated debate between Kevin O'Leary and Cenk Uygur paints a grim near-term outlook on jobs, the Middle East war, and Trump's standing, with serious downside risk for workers and the economy.

  • Cenk warns companies are racing to fire 10–25% of staff using AI, which would cause a depression worse than anything in living memory, and no one has a plan.
  • AI CEOs themselves (Altman, Musk, Anthropic's Dario) say huge job losses are coming, yet Wall Street keeps cheering the cost cuts without asking who will buy the products.
  • Kevin says new tech always creates new jobs (Mars, moon bases, data centers) and dismisses the panic, but admits he cannot say how he might be wrong.
  • On Iran, Cenk argues the war serves only Israel, has pushed up gas and food prices worldwide, and Netanyahu keeps sabotaging any peace deal by demanding Israel be allowed to keep attacking Lebanon.
  • Kevin expects Gulf states and China will eventually pressure Iran into a deal because China is running out of oil, and sees oil falling back toward $70.
  • Trump's approval is sinking fast on the war and the economy, and Iran's leaders may simply wait him out knowing the midterms and 2028 election are looming.

Outlook: Expect more bombing of Iran, higher gas prices, and an accelerating wave of AI layoffs heading into the 2026 midterms with no government plan in place.

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