Kevin O'Leary has entered a new villain era

You will see him on Fox News or CNN, wearing flip-flops, pajama pants, and a blazer. On his lips: data centers.

Kevin O'Leary has taken to preaching the gospel of data centers with the conviction of a cable-televangelist.

"We're in a global competition, an economic competition, a military competition, and certainly a technological competition," O'Leary told Business Insider earlier this month. "We've got to keep our chops because we have led the world in this economy for 250 years."

O'Leary, the Canadian software entrepreneur turned TV personality, began investing in data centers two years ago. Since then, the facilities that hold AI infrastructure have become increasingly divisive due to their environmental impact and high energy use. Some Americans have accused developers and local governments of racing to build the facilities without being transparent about the scope and costs.

Mr. Wonderful, as he refers to himself, doesn't seem to care. He's doubled down on his investments and his outspoken support for them, making it his mission to change public perception.

In the span of six months, the "Shark Tank" investor has gone from a celebrated star turn in "Marty Supreme" to the face of one of the most polarizing technological developments in the country.

Mr. Wonder Valley

O'Leary has been a mainstay on TV screens for years, and he's famous for playing the jerk.

After making his money building an educational software behemoth, O'Leary began appearing as a business commentator on Canadian TV more than two decades ago. In 2006, he became an investor on "Dragon's Den," before bringing the format to America as one of the Sharks on ABC's "Shark Tank" in 2009.

He quickly became known for his blunt, at times brutal demeanor.

"I'm looking for a real asshole, and you're it," he told Business Insider, recalling "Shark Tank" producer Mark Burnett's pitch to him.

As he cut checks for businesses like a cat DNA testing company and a greeting card manufacturer on the show, his bigger deals took place behind the scenes through his mutual fund and venture capital firm, O'Leary Ventures. He's invested millions of dollars into agricultural tech companies, infrastructure firms, and data-collection startups.

Then, in 2024, O'Leary Ventures released a splashy, AI-generated video to announce it was developing Wonder Valley. The $70 billion AI data center in Alberta, Canada, touted itself as the largest in the world at the time. In February 2026, he disclosed a second Wonder Valley data center campus in Utah. The initial plan said the development could span 40,000 acres in the state's northwest corner.

As data center construction has skyrocketed — by the end of last year, more than 1,400 had been built or approved for construction in the US — they have become unpopular, especially with people who live near them. Some complain about the noise, others about water usage, and others about the strain on the electrical grid, which can lead to higher prices.

More than 70% of Americans don't want a data center built near where they live, a March Gallup poll found. That's more than the 53% who don't want a nuclear power plant built near their homes. The disdain has motivated politicians, and data centers have now become a factor in elections across the country.

O'Leary is far from the most prolific developer.

Digital Realty and Equinix both operate over 70 data centers in the US, and tech giants Amazon and Meta operate massive networks across the country.

Still, as a famous face and vocal supporter, O'Leary has become their de facto spokesperson.

"I don't think many data center developers have 12 million followers," he told Business Insider. "You can see how quickly I became the face of data centers."

In Utah, it didn't take long for O'Leary to feel the backlash. Objectors signed petitions, crowded town halls, created advocacy groups, and then sued the state.

One sign at a May protest at the state capitol pointed to O'Leary's loose ties to the state (he lives in Miami), and another had a drawing of his face under the header "bad Canadian."

"Pro whale, anti shark," read a third.

By the time Utah's primaries rolled around on June 23, O'Leary had agreed to slash the size of his campus by more than 20,000 acres. Utah's senate president and a Republican commissioner, both of whom initially supported the data center, were voted out.

O'Leary's Canadian project is also under fire, with residents expressing concern at town halls and an indigenous group requesting a federal review in June.

'I don't tap out'

O'Leary says he isn't backing down, despite the pushback.

His pitch is that the Utah campus, dubbed the Stratos Project, would create new jobs, spur economic growth in the area, and help the US get ahead in the global AI race.

The blowback, he says, is the result of misinformation, which he largely pins on China. He says protesters are paid or bused in, a claim they deny.

"What adversary, if any, would not want us to continue to build our compute power, our compute capacity, our defense systems. I wonder who wouldn't want us to advance on that," O'Leary told Business Insider. "For me, all roads lead back to China." He's since clarified on X that he had "no evidence" that groups opposing his data center are funded by China or the Chinese Communist Party.

China has become a popular answer for AI optimists searching for a reason Americans don't like data centers, and AI more broadly. On June 4, members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce urged the Trump administration to investigate the "foreign influence campaigns" targeting America's AI development.

And it's a message O'Leary has echoed on national TV and popular podcasts, only further cementing his image as the data center cheerleader-in-chief.

"I don't tap out. I don't even know what that means. That's never going to happen with me," O'Leary told Business Insider. "Everything I do has challenges. Every deal, every project — it's never easy."