Kevin O’Leary pushes back against protesters of Utah data center
O'Leary says sustainability measures will limit the project's impact as critics warn the 40,000-acre campus could rely on natural gas and raise emissions.
- Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary is pushing back against public opposition to his Stratos data center project in Box Elder County, Utah, which received approval last month.
- Military Installation Development Authority executive director Paul Morris confirmed the site will rely on natural gas, scaling to 9 gigawatts of power compared with Utah's 4 gigawatts of average annual consumption.
- Citing threats to the shrinking Great Salt Lake, protesters gathered with signs reading "People before profits" to express concerns over local resource strain.
- Dismissing opposition as manufactured, Leary claimed most protesters were outsiders and emphasized that "sustainability is at the heart of what we do" through improved technology.
- The conflict illustrates rising friction between AI infrastructure expansion and community resistance, as similar projects in Alberta and Utah face growing scrutiny over environmental impacts.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Expect the data center backlash to get worse
In a recent meeting of the Box Elder County Commission in Tremonton, Utah, a man yelled at the cloud. "It's false. This is not real information," shouted an attendee at the assembled commissioners, who were considering a massive new data center project backed by celebrity billionaire Kevin O'Leary, in a video posted to X by progressive group More Perfect Union. Kevin O'Leary's massive data center was approved by a county commission in Utah la…
2.5x the size of Manhattan: Kevin O'Leary's Utah data center approved despite local backlash
A massive "hyperscale" data center in Utah has been approved despite protests from residents. As The Salt Lake Tribune reported, Box Elder County's three-member commission unanimously approved Stratos, a proposed 40,000-acre development in Hansel Valley. That's roughly 2.5 times the size of Manhattan. The data campus is backed by Utah's Military Installation Development Authority and billionaire investor Kevin O'Leary. The approval marks a sig…
RECIT - To meet the needs of the AI, Kevin O的Leary, nicknamed "Monsieur Marvelleux", wants to install a data centre that doubles Manhattan's surface area in the arid Utah countryside. A multi-billion-dollar project, with strong local opposition.
SCIENCE & TECH: ‘Shark Tank’ mogul Kevin O’Leary’s massive new data center enrages Utah residents: ‘Shame!’
Hundreds of furious Utah residents packed a gym and erupted in chants of “Shame! Shame! Shame!” this week as county commissioners pushed through approval of “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary’s colossal AI data center project — a sprawling development critics warn could transform the rural region forever. The controversial proposal ignited a political firestorm in Box Elder County, where regulators voted to advance O’Leary’s planned “hyperscale” da…
‘Shark Tank’ Mogul Kevin O’Leary Enrages Red State Residents With Latest Move
A Utah county commission triggered one of the most explosive local political confrontations in recent memory this week, voting to greenlight a colossal artificial intelligence data center backed by “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary — and the rage that followed has not stayed inside the meeting room. Box Elder County, a rural stretch of northern...
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