A lawsuit filed by a Utah progressive group and five Box Elder County residents has forced the Shark Tank investor to trim his ambitious artificial intelligence datacenter project, though the scaled-back version still faces constitutional questions about how the development was approved.
The Alliance for a Better Utah and the residents are attacking the authority that greenlit the Stratos facility, claiming it stripped away citizens' rights to meaningful public review. The challenge targets the state's Military Installation Development Authority, or Mida, a special entity that operates outside normal planning oversight.
"Under the Stratos plan, it would hold permanent, irrevocable control over public health, safety, taxation and land use across tens of thousands of acres of Box Elder county, with no voter recourse," attorney David Irvine said in a statement on behalf of the plaintiffs.
O'Leary confirmed this week that he intends to shrink the facility from its original 40,000-acre footprint. State Senate President Stuart Adams announced the investor had agreed to reduce the size, set aside thousands of acres for wildlife and agriculture, and commit water resources to the Great Salt Lake.
O'Leary posted on X that he understands the pushback but rejected a 75 percent reduction as unrealistic. "That doesn't mean the concerns should be ignored," he wrote, accusing opponents of spreading "coordinated misinformation campaigns."
The investor dismissed fears that the datacenter would drain the Great Salt Lake, consume excessive power, or cause environmental damage. He highlighted the economic upside: construction jobs, high-paying technology positions, and billions in investment flowing into Utah.
O'Leary also claimed he was investigating funding sources behind opposition groups and had provided evidence to federal authorities suggesting links to "Chinese backed interests." The accusation caught the attention of House Republicans, with Kentucky Representative Brett Guthrie, chair of the energy and commerce committee, requesting the FBI investigate "foreign influence campaigns working to slow American AI progress."
Adams said the Stratos project remains in its earliest phase, with full permitting and environmental review still ahead. State and Mida officials said they are reviewing the lawsuit.
Author James Rodriguez: "O'Leary's willingness to trim the project shows the legal and political heat is real, but calling critics pawns of Beijing feels like a deflection from serious questions about how a private investor got a special regulatory pass in the first place."
Comments