Kevin O'Leary calls the opposition to his mega data center 'bumps in the road'

Kevin O'Leary, the prominent investor from 'Shark Tank', remains undeterred in the face of local opposition to his ambitious data center project in Utah. Known for his tenacity, O'Leary expressed his commitment to moving forward despite the challenges posed by community resistance. "I don't tap out. I don't even know what that means. That's never going to happen with me," he remarked in an interview with Business Insider. The proposed data center, located in Box Elder County, aims to support the growing needs of AI companies like OpenAI and Google. However, it has sparked significant backlash from residents, who have raised concerns about its environmental impact and lack of transparency from local officials. As soon as details of the Stratos Project were unveiled, community members rallied, attending planning meetings in droves, launching petitions, and even filing lawsuits against the development. The situation has escalated to the attention of state officials, including the governor and the Senate president, who initially supported the project but have recently imposed stricter regulations, complicating O'Leary's plans. Despite these setbacks, O'Leary remains optimistic, stating, "There are bumps in the road. There's litigation. There's misinformation. But if you know what you're doing is right, you persevere." Initially proposed to cover 40,000 acres and generate up to 9 gigawatts of power—a scale that dwarfs most data centers—O'Leary has agreed to reduce the project's scope in response to local concerns. The initial phase will start with a more manageable 1.4 gigawatts, allowing the team to demonstrate new cooling technologies that O'Leary believes will mitigate environmental effects. As the race for AI supremacy heats up between the U.S. and China, O'Leary argues that the development of data centers is crucial for the nation’s economic and technological future. He has suggested that some of the public's fears are fueled by misinformation, even hinting at a disinformation campaign originating from China. With a recent poll indicating that only a third of Americans support rapid AI data center expansion, O'Leary acknowledges the need for a balanced approach while advocating for swift progress. He concluded, "Can we build anything in America anymore, or will it always be met with resistance? We need to compete globally, and that means moving forward with our plans."