Kevin O'Leary says he's 'not walking away' from his Utah AI data center, despite call to shrink it by 75%

Kevin O'Leary spoke out against a recent proposed reduction to a Utah data center project. Christopher Willard/ABC via Getty Images O'Leary Digital was caught "off guard" by a lawmaker's call to shrink its proposed AI campus by 75%. Kevin O'Leary has defended the project as a job creator and a major piece of AI infrastructure. The proposal has drawn backlash over its scale, water use, and energy demands. Kevin O'Leary's company says it was caught off guard by a Utah lawmaker's demand to dramatically shrink its proposed AI data center campus. On Monday, Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams said he sent a letter to the celebrity investor calling for a 75% reduction in the proposed data center campus. Adams — who also chairs the Military Installation Development Authority, which gave the project an initial approval in April — wrote that he wants the Box Elder County data center to be reduced from 40,000 acres to about 10,000 acres. He also said he wanted stronger commitments on water, conservation, environmental review, heat reduction, and public transparency before the project moves forward. "We have not engaged any Utah legislators on this. The letter caught us off guard," a spokesperson for O'Leary Digital told Business Insider. "What I can tell you is that we are analyzing the letter carefully with our team, and Kevin intends to respond to President Adams personally before the end of the week." The Stratos Project is a proposed AI and defense data center campus in Box Elder County, Utah's extreme northwestern region. State documents describe it as a large-scale data and energy campus meant to support artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and defense operations. If built at its current proposed scale, the campus would require 7.5 to 9 gigawatts, making it one of the largest data center projects in the US. O'Leary told The Salt Lake Tribune that he was "not walking away" from the project and called the proposed reduction "outrageous." "This is not the deal I had with Adams. That's not what we agreed to," he said. "Cutting back the deal 75% is like me selling you a house, and you get to live in the upstairs toilet." The proposed Stratos Project has become a flash point in Utah's debate over AI infrastructure . It's drawn objections from residents and environmental critics over its scale, potential water use, air quality impact, energy demands, and effects on the rural character of Box Elder County. O'Leary has defended the project as a job creator and as AI infrastructure that could support US competitiveness. Last Friday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed an executive order to set a "higher bar for data center development in Utah," including frameworks around "water resources, air quality, utility rates, wildlife, and quality of life." Today I signed an Executive Order establishing a higher bar for data center development in Utah. Utahns deserve confidence that water resources, air quality, utility rates, wildlife, and quality of life will be protected. This framework helps ensure that data center development… pic.twitter.com/yrASJOVvJi — Governor Cox (@GovCox) May 29, 2026 Adams didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Read the original article on Business Insider