Kevin O’Leary agrees to downsize massive Utah data center
TL;DR
Kevin O'Leary agreed to halve his planned 40,000-acre data center in Utah amid mounting pressure from residents and activists. The Shark Tank star will remove 19,430 acres from Project Stratos, located around the Locomotive Springs Waterfowl Management Area, after Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams called for a 75 percent cut. Adams also asked O'Leary to adopt technology that minimizes water consumption.
Nauti's Take
The upside is encouraging: public pressure and lawmakers actually pushed a massive data center toward a more sustainable footprint — 19,430 fewer acres and water-use conditions are a concrete win for residents. The risk hasn't gone away, though: the AI boom keeps driving demand for giant compute sites, and not every project meets watchdogs this alert.
Nauti's take: anyone investing in AI infrastructure should plan for location, water and local buy-in upfront, rather than backpedaling later.
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