BOX ELDER — Kevin O’Leary accused foreign actors, particularly China, of orchestrating opposition to his proposed Stratos Project data center in Box Elder, Utah, during a public dispute in April 2025. The 40,000-acre development, located northwest of Salt Lake City, would span more than double the size of Manhattan if fully built.

O’Leary, known as “Mr. Wonderful” from Shark Tank, claimed in a Monday video that “nefarious accounts out of the country” tied to China were spreading misinformation about the project as part of a coordinated attack on American AI infrastructure. He asserted he possesses “90 pages of evidence” showing “millions, hundreds of millions of dollars” in foreign funds are being used to fuel targeted misinformation campaigns against the data center. O’Leary also described protesters as “bused in” and “misinformed,” and characterized the site as remote, arid pastureland that was “in nobody’s backyard.”

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum echoed O’Leary’s concerns during a Tuesday appearance on Fox Business, stating that “any place that’s trying to build data centers is getting bombarded with foreign-directed propaganda to try to block these from being built.” Burgum called such efforts “another attack on the US and our ability to be competitive.” Their claims align with reports from the Bitcoin Policy Institute, Power the Future, and the American Energy Institute—organizations with ties to Trump-aligned or crypto-friendly interests—all of which concluded Chinese entities are involved in a coordinated campaign against U.S. data center construction.

Critics dismissed the allegations as baseless. A spokesperson for the Wyss Foundation called the reports “false, misleading and an attempt by big crypto special interests to manipulate the public.” Code Pink labeled the China claims “false and defamatory,” and a spokesperson for Alliance for a Better Utah called them “laughable.”

Jim Walsh, policy director of Food and Water Watch, criticized the project’s environmental impact, saying it would “perpetuate more fracking in the Western U.S.” through gas from the Ruby Pipeline. Walsh added that national security “isn’t just about having technological and military superiority,” emphasizing that clean air, clean water, and resource conservation are equally vital. Local residents have also raised concerns about rising water and power costs, real estate devaluation, and potential health effects.