Kevin O’Leary agrees to downsize massive Utah data center

Kevin O’Leary said he will remove 19,430 acres from his planned 40,000-acre Utah data center project near the Locomotive Springs Waterfowl Management Area. The move follows pressure from residents, activists, and Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams, who had pushed for a much larger reduction and water-saving technology.

The pullback shows how data center expansion is increasingly colliding with land, water, and environmental concerns, especially in arid regions. Even high-profile investors may need to redesign projects as communities and policymakers scrutinize the resource demands of AI and cloud infrastructure.

Kevin O'Leary agreed to halve the size of his planned 40,000-acre data center in Utah amid mounting pressure from residents and activists, as reported earlier by local affiliate ABC4. The Shark Tank star sent a letter to Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams on Thursday, saying that he will remove 19,430 acres from the project, located in and around the Locomotive Springs Waterfowl Management Area. The change comes just days after Adams called on O'Leary to slash the size of his Project Stratos data center by 75 percent, which would reduce it to about 10,000 acres. Adams also asked O'Leary to implement technology that minimizes water consum … Read the full story at The Verge.