O’Leary shrinking Utah data center after backlash

Business mogul Kevin O’Leary said late Wednesday he is willing to scale back his controversial 40,000-acre artificial intelligence data center campus in Utah after mounting backlash over the development’s size and environmental impact.

The “Shark Tank” business mogul told NBC News that he is “going to have to” slim down the development amid political pushback from state leadership. 

“I have no choice,” he said at the Washington AI Network’s AI Honors gala.

Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams (R) sent a letter to O’Leary on Monday calling for a 75 percent reduction in size of the proposed Stratos data center in Box Elder County, from an already approved 40,000 acres to approximately 10,000 acres.

Adams also requested “greater transparency, stronger conservation commitments and enhanced protections for Utah’s natural resources” including protections for the Great Salt Lake, despite none of the water currently used in the area flowing into........

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