Kevin O'Leary defends his Utah data center project: 'Think about the number of jobs'

Many Americans don't like the AI data centers popping up in their communities, though Kevin O'Leary thinks that's because they don't fully understand them. O'Leary, the venture capitalist and "Shark Tank" investor who recently starred as a villainous businessman in "Marty Supreme," said Americans have misconceptions about data centers and their environmental impact. "It's understanding the concerns of people, but at the same time, think about the number of jobs," O'Leary said in a post on X on Friday. Addressing environmental worries, O'Leary noted that he graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in environmental studies. "When a group comes to me and says, 'Look, I have concerns about water, I have concerns about air, I have concerns about wildlife,' I totally get it," O'Leary said. O'Leary has clashed with residents in Box Elder County, Utah, over a new AI data center he's backing on a 40,000-acre campus. County commissioners approved the project, which is also backed by Utah's Military Installation Development Authority, on Monday despite the community opposition. O'Leary said, without providing evidence, that the criticism mainly came from "professional protesters" who were "paid by somebody." One major concern for residents about the data center -- dubbed the Stratos Project -- is that it could strain the water supply. Data centers can use millions of gallons of water each day. Increased utility bills, noise, and a drop in quality of life are also points of contention. O'Leary said the public misunderstands the impact of data centers because they were "poorly represented" in the past, and that the technology powering them has "advanced dramatically." He said data centers don't use as much water as they once did and can use a closed-loop system to avoid evaporation. Data centers can also rely on air-cooled turbines as an alternative to managing the temperature of the computer arrays, he said. A fact sheet published by Box Elder County said the project won't divert water from the nearby Great Salt Lake, agriculture, or homes. It also says that Stratos won't increase electricity prices or taxes. Many residents, however, are not so sure. The Salt Lake Tribune reported on Thursday that an application to divert water from the Salt Wells Spring stream, near the Great Salt Lake and long used by a local ranch for irrigation, was rescinded after nearly thousands of Utah residents lodged complaints. "At some point, understanding the value of sustainability, water and air rights, indigenous rights, and making sure the constituencies understand what you're doing is going to be more valuable than the equity you raise," O'Leary said on X. Anjney Midha, a Stanford University adjunct lecturer who appeared on the "Access" podcast this week, would agree with that sentiment. He said that listening to local communities and being transparent about the intentions and impacts of data centers are essential to making them work. "My view is that if it's not legible to the public that these data centers and the infrastructure required to unblock this kind of frontier technology progress are serving their benefit, then it's not going to work out," Midha said. In a subsequent post on X on Friday, O'Leary said his project would be "totally transparent." "We want it to be the shining example of how you do this," he said.