O’Leary refuses – Kevin O’Leary says he’s “not walking away” from the proposed Stratos Project in Utah after Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams demanded the campus be reduced from 40,000 acres to about 10,000 acres, arguing the plan needs stronger commitments on water, conse
For Kevin O’Leary, the fight over a Utah AI data center isn’t happening in a distant boardroom. It arrived in his inbox, and his reaction was sharp.
Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams sent a letter calling for a drastic change to O’Leary Digital’s proposed Stratos Project—cutting the planned campus from 40. 000 acres to about 10. 000 acres. Adams. who also chairs the Military Installation Development Authority that initially approved the project in April. said he wants the plan to come back with stronger commitments before it moves forward.
A spokesperson for O’Leary Digital said the company was caught off guard by the demand. “We have not engaged any Utah legislators on this. The letter caught us off guard,” the spokesperson told Business Insider. The spokesperson added that O’Leary is analyzing the letter with his team and intends to respond to President Adams personally before the end of the week.
O’Leary himself has said he is not backing away from the project. He told The Salt Lake Tribune that he was “not walking away” and called the proposed reduction “outrageous.”
“This is not the deal I had with Adams. That’s not what we agreed to,” O’Leary said. “Cutting back the deal 75% is like me selling you a house, and you get to live in the upstairs toilet.”
The Stratos Project is proposed as an AI and defense data center campus in Box Elder County. in Utah’s extreme northwestern region. Utah state documents describe it as a large-scale data and energy campus meant to support artificial intelligence. cloud computing. and defense operations. Built at its current proposed scale. the campus would require 7.5 to 9 gigawatts—positioning it as one of the largest data center projects in the US.
Adams’ letter didn’t focus on just acreage. He also said he wants stronger commitments on water, conservation, environmental review, heat reduction, and public transparency before the project moves forward.
The demand landed as the Stratos Project has become a flash point in Utah’s debate over AI infrastructure. The proposal has drawn objections from residents and environmental critics over its scale and potential ripple effects—water use. air quality impact. energy demands. and how it could reshape the rural character of Box Elder County.
O’Leary, for his part, has defended the project as a job creator and as AI infrastructure that could help support US competitiveness.
The dispute comes as Utah’s leadership tightens what data center projects are expected to deliver. Last Friday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed an executive order to set a “higher bar for data center development in Utah. ” including frameworks around “water resources. air quality. utility rates. wildlife. and quality of life.” Cox wrote: “Today I signed an Executive Order establishing a higher bar for data center development in Utah. Utahns deserve confidence that water resources, air quality, utility rates, wildlife, and quality of life will be protected. This framework helps ensure that data center development… pic.twitter.com/yrASJOVvJi— Governor Cox (@GovCox) May 29, 2026.”.
Adams did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
For O’Leary Digital. the immediate question is whether the Stratos Project can be reshaped without breaking the deal structure Adams initially participated in—an arrangement O’Leary now calls fundamentally mismatched with the latest proposal. For Utah. the stakes are broader than one campus: it is a test of how quickly AI-driven infrastructure can move through approvals. and what kinds of safeguards the state wants made concrete before construction risks become community reality.
Kevin O'Leary O'Leary Digital Stratos Project Utah AI data center J. Stuart Adams Military Installation Development Authority Box Elder County water resources air quality executive order Spencer Cox