Shark Tank mogul Kevin OLearys massive new data center enrages Utah residents: Shame! | Latest Tech News
Hundreds of livid Utah residents packed a fitness center 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 may remodel the rural area endlessly.
The controversial proposal ignited a political firestorm in Box Elder County, where regulators voted to advance O’Leary’s deliberate “hyperscale” data center — a massive complicated anticipated to generate and devour more than twice the electrical energy presently used by all the state of Utah.
The fierce backlash in Box Elder County, population 64,100, displays a growing national revolt against massive AI data facilities. Critics say the websites guzzle monumental quantities of water and electrical energy, obtain lavish tax breaks and completely remodel rural communities while creating comparatively few long-term jobs.
Kevin O’Leary defended his controversial Utah AI data center project as protesters and environmental teams blasted the plan over issues about water use, pollution and vitality demand. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Last month, small-town Missourians voted to oust a number of councilmembers who backed a $6 billion data center despite intense opposition from locals.
Opponents of the Utah project have raised alarms over the potential for pollution, drought pressure, rising vitality demand and what they describe as a rushed approval course of that gave residents little say over a development anticipated to reshape tens of hundreds of acres of open land.
The proposed website would span roughly 60 sq. miles — making it practically 3 times the scale of Manhattan — and could be powered largely by natural gasoline, according to state officers.
Angry residents packed a Box Elder County assembly Monday evening to protest Kevin O’Leary’s proposed hyperscale AI data center project, chanting “Shame! Shame! Shame!” after commissioners voted to advance the development. Getty Images
Hundreds of residents jammed into the Box Elder County Commission’s particular assembly Monday carrying protest indicators and blasting commissioners over what critics described as a rushed and secretive course of.
I’m the only developer of data facilities on earth that graduated from environmental research. I’m fairly conscious of what these issues are. They are around air, water use, heat, noise pollution. So sustainability is at the guts of what we do in phrases of all these proposals. We… pic.twitter.com/Qvob70uEmh
— Kevin O’Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) May 5, 2026
The fury inside the fitness center boiled over into hallways and parking tons as demonstrators shouted at officers after the vote, with some accusing county leaders of promoting out the area’s land, water and air high quality.
Commissioners moved the assembly from their ordinary chambers to a bigger fairgrounds facility in Tremonton after anticipating an unusually large turnout, according to local experiences.
Protesters maintain indicators during a contentious Box Elder County Commission assembly on Monday as local officers moved ahead with approval of Kevin O’Leary’s massive AI data center project in northern Utah. Getty Images
O’Leary dismissed a lot of the backlash by claiming the demonstrations have been fueled by outdoors agitators quite than local residents.
“We think over 90% of the protesters are actually not people that live in Utah or Box Elder County. They’re being bussed in,” the investor said this week in a video posted to social media.
The fallout from the vote grew to become so heated that one commissioner said police officers have been stationed outdoors commissioners’ properties after the assembly amid fears demonstrators may show up at there.
“Today I have policemen parked in front of my house,” Commissioner Lee Perry told ABC4, including that protesters have been “attacking, not just me personally, but my family.”
Scientists and environmental consultants warned the proposed facility’s massive vitality urge for food may dramatically worsen pollution in Utah because the project would rely closely on natural gasoline technology.
Residents crowded into a fairgrounds assembly corridor in Tremonton, Utah, after county officers moved the listening to to a bigger venue to accommodate unusually high turnout over the controversial AI data center proposal. Getty Images
One Utah State University physicist estimated the project may raise the state’s greenhouse gasoline emissions by roughly 50%.
At full buildout, the sprawling AI campus is projected to require up to 9 gigawatts of electrical energy — more than double Utah’s current average statewide energy consumption, according to state officers.
The project has also drawn scrutiny over profitable incentives accepted by state officers in an effort to secure the development.
Kevin O’Leary’s massive data center was accepted by a county commission in Utah last evening.
At 40,000 acres, it might be 2.5x the scale of Manhattan.
The commission accepted the proposal despite opposition from a whole lot of locals. pic.twitter.com/1pF9JZD30w
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) May 5, 2026
Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority, or MIDA, accepted a sharply diminished vitality tax fee of 0.5% for the project — far below the 6% fee it was licensed to charge.
State officers also acknowledged they aggressively fast-tracked the proposal as they competed with rival states to land the project.
“It’s a competition,” MIDA government director Paul Morris said last month. “That’s also why we’ve been rushing it so fast.”
Kirk Offel, CEO of Overwatch Mission Critical, told The Post that the Utah project’s proposed 9-gigawatt scale would have been unimaginable just a few years in the past — but said the AI increase is quickly altering the economics and infrastructure calls for of the industry.
“Nine gigawatts is aggressive. But it’s not unrealistic. Not anymore,” Offel said.
“We are no longer building data centers, we are building industrial infrastructure for intelligence.”
A map reveals the proposed footprint of Kevin O’Leary’s deliberate “Stratos” AI data center campus in Box Elder County, Utah — a sprawling development anticipated to cowl more than 60 sq. miles. Box Elder County
Offel said the largest problem dealing with hyperscale AI initiatives is no longer demand, but execution — including whether or not builders can secure enough energy, construct workforce capability and preserve neighborhood trust.
He also acknowledged the big environmental issues surrounding the Utah proposal, saying initiatives of this dimension drive “hard choices into the open’ over water use, emissions and sustainability.”
“Natural gas is being used as a bridge, not because it’s perfect, but because it’s available, scalable, and dispatchable right now,” Offel told The Post.
“The real issue is this: We have demand moving at exponential speed, and policy, infrastructure, and environmental alignment moving at linear speed.”
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