Allegations of Chinese Propaganda Fuel Box Elder County Data Center Protests
Protests are actively ongoing against a proposed 40,000-acre data center development in Box Elder County, Utah. Developer Kevin O'Leary and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum allege that foreign-directed propaganda, potentially linked to the Chinese Communist Party, is fueling these protests. Environmental concerns regarding heat generation have also been raised by a Utah State University physicist.
Protests against a proposed 40,000-acre data center in Box Elder County, Utah, are reportedly being influenced by foreign propaganda, according to developer Kevin O'Leary and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. O'Leary, who is behind the massive development, claimed in a video that nefarious accounts with links to the Chinese Communist Party are inciting Utah residents to oppose the project.
Secretary Burgum echoed this sentiment, stating that data center development efforts nationwide are "getting bombarded with foreign-directed propaganda." Both suggest that the motivation behind this alleged interference is related to global competition over artificial intelligence dominance. In addition to these claims, Utah State University physicist Robert Davies calculated that the Box Elder data center could release 16 gigawatts of heat, which he equated to a dozen atomic bombs, raising significant environmental concerns.