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How Utah locals fought Kevin O’Leary’s AI data center

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Josh Dzieza criticizes how data-center deals proceed without local residents’ participation and discusses the Stratos project in Box Elder County. He says, “At no part in this chain are local residents a player.” He adds that “no one bothered to tell anyone in Box Elder County that anything was coming.”. Read 5 viewpoints with supporting evidence and source links.

Nilay PatelJosh Dzieza
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5 key points

Synthesis

  1. Data-center projects can be real despite parallels with Foxconn

    Dzieza says data centers are being built and can make sense in some cases, unlike the Foxconn LCD-factory project in Wisconsin. Even so, he found more parallels between the projects than he expected.

    Supporting evidence 1

    Original excerpt

    I did not expect this to feel so similar to Foxconn initially, because unlike the Foxconn project, the data center buildout is real and at least theoretically can make sense in many cases. These things are actually getting built — unlike an LCD fab in the middle of Wisconsin. It turned out that there are more parallels than I thought.

    Josh Dzieza · Paragraph 9

    How Utah locals fought Kevin O’Leary’s AI data center · Oct 1, 2026

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    data center development realism →

  2. The rush for funding can clash with politics

    Patel sees a conflict between politics and an industry seeking hyperscaler funding by completing deals and permitting as quickly as possible.

    Supporting evidence 1

    Original excerpt

    There’s an entire industry that is built around trying to acquire money from hyperscalers as fast as possible by getting these deals done, by getting the permits, by going through the process as quickly as possible, and it feels like our politics and that process are in absolute conflict.

    Nilay Patel · Paragraph 56

    How Utah locals fought Kevin O’Leary’s AI data center · Oct 1, 2026

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    data center development process →

  3. Dzieza says local residents are left out of development deals

    Dzieza says local residents are absent from the development process. He cites Stratos, where he says no one informed people in Box Elder County about what was coming.

    Supporting evidence 1

    Original excerpt

    At no part in this chain are local residents a player. They’re just not there. They’re not part of this system. So, you have something like Stratos, where just no one bothered to tell anyone in Box Elder County that anything was coming.

    Josh Dzieza · Paragraph 66

    How Utah locals fought Kevin O’Leary’s AI data center · Oct 1, 2026

    Context

    They’re all racing. Their concern is, “Can we get this deal together as fast as possible?” Local residents just don’t come up.

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    stakeholder inclusion →

  4. A large project announcement does not establish funding

    Dzieza describes developers announcing large possible projects to attract a company such as Meta. A site’s power capacity, footprint and possible permits do not mean construction funding is in place. He calls these “paper data centers” a symptom of a broader race.

    Supporting evidence 1

    Original excerpt

    So, you have these so-called paper data centers out there, but it is a symptom of the broader race dynamic.

    Josh Dzieza · Paragraph 64

    How Utah locals fought Kevin O’Leary’s AI data center · Oct 1, 2026

    Context

    One consequence of that is that you have a lot of announcements. A lot of announcements for developers say, “I’ve got a 10-gigawatt facility here. We’re building this gigantic facility, it’s going to be the biggest data center in the world.” This happens not just with Kevin O’Leary, but also basically what they’re saying is, “Hey Meta, if you wanted to get involved with this, you could have the biggest data center in the world. You could have a 10-gigawatt facility here.” It has that power capacity, maybe it has permitting for that and has the physical footprint for it. It doesn’t mean we have funding to build a 10-gigawatt facility or anything like that.

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    infrastructure credibility →

  5. Dzieza sees little support beyond officials and developers

    Dzieza says he has found little pro-data-center support beyond builders and state officials attracted by tax revenue. He adds that even people selling land into a project expected to be paid while disliking the development.

    Supporting evidence 1

    Original excerpt

    I think it’s Trump wanting it to happen, I don’t know anyone who wants a data center in their backyard. I think that was one of the surprising things to me, that there’s not really a pro-data center constituency other than I guess state officials who see them as an attractive source of tax revenue and the people building them.

    Josh Dzieza · Paragraph 92

    How Utah locals fought Kevin O’Leary’s AI data center · Oct 1, 2026

    Context

    Even the people who were selling land into the project were saying, “I’ll get paid, but I’m not happy this is coming.”

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    local acceptance →

Key passages5

Attributed passages with the context to verify them. Open the original text to check the source.

Paragraph 9 (opens in a new tab)
data center development realism

Data-center projects can be real despite parallels with Foxconn

Original excerpt

I did not expect this to feel so similar to Foxconn initially, because unlike the Foxconn project, the data center buildout is real and at least theoretically can make sense in many cases. These things are actually getting built — unlike an LCD fab in the middle of Wisconsin. It turned out that there are more parallels than I thought.
Josh Dzieza·
Paragraph 56 (opens in a new tab)
data center development process

The rush for funding can clash with politics

Original excerpt

There’s an entire industry that is built around trying to acquire money from hyperscalers as fast as possible by getting these deals done, by getting the permits, by going through the process as quickly as possible, and it feels like our politics and that process are in absolute conflict.
Nilay Patel·
Paragraph 64 (opens in a new tab)
infrastructure credibility

A large project announcement does not establish funding

Original excerpt

So, you have these so-called paper data centers out there, but it is a symptom of the broader race dynamic.
Josh Dzieza·
Context

One consequence of that is that you have a lot of announcements. A lot of announcements for developers say, “I’ve got a 10-gigawatt facility here. We’re building this gigantic facility, it’s going to be the biggest data center in the world.” This happens not just with Kevin O’Leary, but also basically what they’re saying is, “Hey Meta, if you wanted to get involved with this, you could have the biggest data center in the world. You could have a 10-gigawatt facility here.” It has that power capacity, maybe it has permitting for that and has the physical footprint for it. It doesn’t mean we have funding to build a 10-gigawatt facility or anything like that.

Paragraph 66 (opens in a new tab)
stakeholder inclusion

Dzieza says local residents are left out of development deals

Original excerpt

At no part in this chain are local residents a player. They’re just not there. They’re not part of this system. So, you have something like Stratos, where just no one bothered to tell anyone in Box Elder County that anything was coming.
Josh Dzieza·
Context

They’re all racing. Their concern is, “Can we get this deal together as fast as possible?” Local residents just don’t come up.

Paragraph 92 (opens in a new tab)
local acceptance

Dzieza sees little support beyond officials and developers

Original excerpt

I think it’s Trump wanting it to happen, I don’t know anyone who wants a data center in their backyard. I think that was one of the surprising things to me, that there’s not really a pro-data center constituency other than I guess state officials who see them as an attractive source of tax revenue and the people building them.
Josh Dzieza·
Context

Even the people who were selling land into the project were saying, “I’ll get paid, but I’m not happy this is coming.”

Source & methodology

These viewpoints are linked to their original sources. Paraphrases are labeled and are not verbatim quotes.

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