Fox News issued on-air apologies after Kevin O’Leary said that opponents of his Utah data center project were proxies for the Chinese government. O’Leary later wrote on Facebook that he had no evidence for his claim, after Fox hosts acknowledged the error on a
When Kevin O’Leary stepped onto Fox News in late May and described opponents to his Utah data center as proxies for the Chinese government. the claim quickly spilled into a wider political fight. By June. Fox News was still trying to clean up the record—this time with rare on-air apologies from several hosts.
O’Leary. the “Shark Tank” star. made the comments during an appearance on the network. discussing the controversy around his planned data center project in Utah. He went further than criticizing policies, saying the groups against his project were tied to China. In May, he questioned who would want the U.S. to stop building its electrical grid or stop developing “compute capacity to develop AI. ” then said “There’s only one: It’s China.” He also proceeded to call out the data center dissidents by name. including the Alliance for a Better Utah and Elevate Strategies.
On the Fox News weekend broadcast. host Johnny Joey Jones acknowledged there was “no evidence” that the groups referenced by O’Leary were funded by or working in coordination with the Chinese Communist Party. “He made certain claims relating to the opponents of his project. Mr. O’Leary has now corrected the record,” Jones said. Jones added that “Fox News Media also apologizes for the error.”.
O’Leary’s correction came publicly in a Facebook post on Thursday. where he said he had no evidence that the opponents he called out on Fox—Alliance for a Better Utah and Elevate Strategies—are working with China. The timeline matters: O’Leary had already made the China-linked allegation on-air in late May. and Fox hosts only apologized after he clarified that he lacked evidence for it.
Several Fox News and Fox Business hosts. including Maria Bartiromo. read out rare on-air apologies after O’Leary made the comments. The channel’s cleanup reflected the gap between political insinuation and evidence—an issue that has become especially combustible as the U.S. expands data center capacity during the AI race.
The apologies land as O’Leary Ventures’ “Stratos Project” campus in Utah has become a flash point in a broader debate over data centers. Construction has boomed in recent years as the AI race accelerated. but concerns have surfaced over the impact of new data centers on local water and electricity supplies.
Public opinion is also turning against new sites. Around 71% of Americans say they don’t want a data center built in their area, according to a recent Gallup poll. Some states have even considered legislation to ban new sites.
Within that environment, local opposition to O’Leary’s Utah project has been fierce. Earlier this month, O’Leary—described by himself as “Mr. Wonderful”—agreed to cut the size of the 40,000-acre site in half after backlash from local politicians. Even so, he has continued to position himself as a prominent advocate for the data center buildout.
In a June interview with Business Insider. O’Leary argued that building more data centers was vital for the U.S. to retain its technological edge. “We’re in a global competition, an economic competition, a military competition, and certainly a technological competition,” he said. He added: “We’ve got to keep our chops because we have led the world in this economy for 250 years.”.
What makes this moment stand out isn’t only the question of data center expansion. It’s the sequence: an on-air allegation tying local opponents to China. followed by an on-air admission of “no evidence. ” and then O’Leary’s Facebook clarification that he had no evidence his Utah opponents were working with China.
The situation now sits at the intersection of investment promises. local environmental and infrastructure pressures. and the sharp rhetoric that can quickly escalate into allegations with geopolitical weight. For Fox News. the correction is now part of the story—delivered on air after the claim. and tied to a record O’Leary says he can’t substantiate.
Fox News apology Kevin O'Leary Utah data center Stratos Project Alliance for a Better Utah Elevate Strategies Chinese Communist Party Maria Bartiromo Johnny Joey Jones AI data centers Gallup poll
Wait so Fox apologized? That’s wild.
I mean Fox says sorry a lot but nothing changes. Kevin O’Leary always talks like he has receipts, then suddenly “no evidence.” Kinda ridiculous tbh.
So the Utah data center people were “proxies” for China… but then he admits he had no evidence? That sounds like the kind of thing that should’ve been verified before going on TV. Also why is this even a thing if it’s about AI compute or whatever lol.
This is just distraction, they’ll move on. If someone says China, everybody freaks out and then later it’s “oops no evidence.” Reminds me of all those other claims where the apology is basically like 5 seconds and the damage is already done. Plus I saw a clip where he said it so confidently, so I’m not sure how nobody checks names like Elevate Strategies beforehand.