Kevin O'Leary's Utah data center proposal faces opposition over water and power concerns
Kevin O'Leary's Project Stratos, a massive AI data center proposal in Box Elder County, Utah, faces intense public opposition due to concerns over water and power consumption in an arid region, and a lack of government transparency. The project's initial approval by an unnamed state agency without public comment has fueled outrage, and O'Leary has faced a defamation lawsuit from critics he attacked on national television.
Josh Einiger, a senior reporter for MSNOW, investigated the growing public opposition to data centers, specifically focusing on a controversial proposal in Utah's Box Elder County. The project, named "Project Stratos," is backed by investor Kevin O'Leary, known from "Shark Tank," and initially proposed developing land twice the size of Manhattan for what would be one of the world's largest data centers. This ambitious plan has been scaled back by half after public outcry.
The controversy stems from concerns over the project's potential strain on Utah's already scarce resources, particularly water in the vicinity of the shrinking Great Salt Lake, and its immense power consumption of up to nine gigawatts. Critics, including Dr. Robert Davies from Utah State University, argue the scope is unfathomable and could drastically alter the local landscape and ecosystem. The original proposal was approved without public comment by an unnamed state agency, fueling accusations of a lack of government transparency.
O'Leary initially faced a PR crisis after attacking critics, including Gabby Finlayson and Jackie Morgan of Elevate Strategies, on national television, falsely suggesting they were "proxies for the Chinese government." Although O'Leary later issued a correction, Finlayson and another individual filed a defamation lawsuit against him and Fox. O'Leary admits that his organization "screwed this up" regarding communication and details, stating that engineers are still figuring out specifics on power generation, heat output, and water usage, which has only intensified the criticism and local backlash.