BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah — The project developer of the proposed data center in Box Elder County, who also stars on the reality show "Shark Tank," continued to defend the facility during a Friday interview, while attempting to allay any environmental fears.
Appearing on CNN, Kevin O'Leary disputed environmental claims made by experts, saying the planned 40,000-acre Stratos project is "not gonna destroy air quality" and "not gonna drain the Great Salt Lake."
A Utah State University physics professor explained how the data center could release heat equaling "23 atomic bombs" per day, while possibly raising temperatures near the facility by 12° Fahrenheit during nighttime hours.
O'Leary described project leaders as being transparent due to the national attention on the facility, and that the data center is moving forward "very slowly and incrementally."
However, a slow process appears to contradict comments O'Leary made to the Utah Military Installation Development Authority board earlier this year, when he said, "We will be able to do this in the time frame, and I must say, and why we've been rushing it so fast, it's a competition."
O'Leary emphasized in his appearance Friday, as well as to the MIDA board, that the rush is needed to stay ahead of the Chinese government when it comes to artificial intelligence.
"I want the Chinese to see this, that we're not going to stop. We're going to catch up, in terms of incremental growth of power," O'Leary said Friday. "That's what keeps them focused. If they think we're falling behind, if they think they can beat us in AI, we have to prove they can't."
In front of the MIDA board, O'Leary claimed China had built 400 gigawatts of power over the last 24 months to power AI centers.
"We're in a race with them," he said, adding that he believed the U.S. had "gone to sleep" on AI. "It's bad. It's a bad situation," added O'Leary.
O'Leary went on to thank Gov. Spencer Cox and Senate President Stuart Adams, who serves on the MIDA board, for their action to approve the data center.
"This is extraordinary," O'Leary told the board. "It's unbelievable. It's unprecedented that we could accelerate this so fast."
The controversy over the data center exploded Monday after the Box Elder County Commission unanimously approved a resolution to proceed with the project. Gov. Cox has also voiced his support for the project, and on Friday, shared on social media how he will ensure procedures are in place to protect state resources such as air, water, land, energy and taxes.
