Kevin O’Leary Says Utah Locals Opposing Controversial AI Data Center Must Be From Chinese Government

Kevin O’Leary, who is backing the development of a massive data center in Utah, believes the people who are opposing it are from the Chinese government.

The Shark Tank investor, 71, recently appeared on Fox News and asked, “Who would want us to stop building our electrical grid? Who would want to stop us from having compute capacity to develop AI? Which adversary would want that? There’s only one: it’s China.”

However, the people who were apparently called out by O’Leary and are behind Elevate Strategies are two young locals — and they responded in a video message.

The proposed 40,000-acre data center campus is reportedly being developed in Box Elder County, Utah.

The project, according to Utah governor Spencer Cox, is “designed to strengthen national security and Utah’s long-term economic competitiveness. Approved by the MIDA Board of Directors and the Box Elder County Commission, the project supports the development of a large-scale data and energy campus that will help power artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and mission-critical defense operations.”

But locals reportedly have concerns, especially given unknown factors regarding A.I.

The women behind political consulting firm Elevate Strategies started their video (which has been posted to X) by calling out O’Leary for wearing “flip-flops and a suit on national television,” cutting to a screengrab from his recent Fox interview.

“If we were Chinese operatives, we would be the worst operatives in the entire world,” Gabi Finlayson said in the video. “Someone alert Beijing that the payment portal to [colleague] Jackie Morgan and I’s Amex bills is somehow broken.”

According to CNN, the project was recently approved by Box Elder County commissioners despite protests from community members.

“I love what technology can give us, but Big Tech has shown us that they are not accountable,” said Caroline Gleich, an environmental advocate and resident of Park City, per CNN.

“It’s very concerning and difficult to be a proponent of this, with the amount of land, energy and the impacts to our communities, without guardrails, accountability and transparency,” Gleich added.

As the National Enquirer previously reported, O’Leary has said President Donald Trump‘s legacy will be tied to the boom of A.I.

“AI has already put itself in all 11 sectors of our economy to be something very powerful as a tool to enhance the economy through productivity and margin enhancement,” O’Leary told Fox Business on April 30. “That’s why the markets are hitting new highs even while we have all this conflict around the world.”