Billionaire entrepreneur
Mark Cuban said that he is “not a doomer” regarding the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), arguing that organisations can effectively protect themselves from AI-powered cyberattacks by deploying the very same technology on defense. Speaking at the Reuters Total Health conference, the former Shark Tank investor compared malicious AI agents to household pests, introducing what he called his "Cockroach Theory" of cybersecurity.
“I’m not a doomer at all. We hear about the worst possible scenarios with AI, but we don’t talk about the defensive measures that that same capable AI can take against them,” Cuban said.
The investor added: “It’s like the cockroach thing, right? You build a new house, you get the guys to come out and spray... the one thing I don’t want is cockroaches in my house ever. But the cockroaches find a way to get in because there’s zillions of them, right? And then if there’s one gets in, there’s more that are going to get in, and that’s kind of the way AI works.”
Cuban explained that if bad actors build swarms of autonomous agents to probe networks through sheer numbers, defenders can respond with equal computational power.
“It’s like the Cockroach theory, where if somebody can create enough agents, it’ll find a way to get in, and then it just exploits that.
But the good news is, you can spray your systems with just as much AI,” he said, adding, “It's all brute force acts, and if it's brute force on that side with the bad guys, you can also use brute force with the good guys... And I think there’s going to be more effort from the good guys trying to stop the bad guys.”
Expanding cost plus drugs into portable manufacturing
Beyond his perspective on emerging technology, Cuban discussed the rapid evolution of his healthcare enterprise, Cost Plus Drug Company. Launched in 2022 to disrupt traditional pharmaceutical pricing, Cost Plus operates on a transparent model: charging the wholesale cost it pays for a medication plus a fixed 15% markup. In May, the business joined TrumpRx.gov, a platform established by the Trump administration to distribute discounted weight-loss medications.
The venture has since broadened its footprint from retail distribution to direct manufacturing. In 2025, Cost Plus began producing sterile injectable medications commonly required by hospitals at its own dedicated compounding facility.
Cuban revealed that the company has now engineered compact, tractor-trailer-sized manufacturing units that he terms “pods.” Designed to function independently or link together, these mobile units can manufacture generic medications as well as specialized treatments for rare diseases.