Business titan and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary is sounding the alarm about a public relations war by communist and socialist groups in China and elsewhere opposed to his planned Stratos Project data center in Utah.
In an interview he posted Monday on social media, O’Leary, who is also known as “Mr. Wonderful,” said he experienced on May 4 a “massive influx of DMs” on X and Instagram, a “tens of thousands of percent of increase.”
“There are nefarious accounts out of the country dumping stuff that’s completely false about Utah,” he said. “Just stunning. I couldn’t believe it.”
“We uncovered something far bigger than I ever expected. After seeing coordinated false attacks against the Utah data center project, we brought in an advanced data science team to trace where the content was coming from and the results were shocking. What we found led back to organized networks, political activist groups, and funding trails tied to massive international entities. We dug through IRS 990 filings, tracked IP data from around the world, and uncovered what appears to be a coordinated campaign targeting energy and data center projects across multiple regions.”
“The actual images were from the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and the People’s Dispatch. I had never heard of them before.”
He noted other groups involved were the Salt Lake Party for Socialism and Liberation, Salt Lake Democratic Socialists of America, and the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the People.
“What the hell are they doing marching around Box Elder County? I mean, what is this?” he wondered.
“I’m not OK with this. And I found it in Alberta, Canada, too. There’s a war going on. I guess a PR war, or whatever you want to call it.”
“We’re talking about millions, hundreds of millions of dollars here. It’s not just Utah. These guys are doing campaigns everywhere there’s a proposed increase in power and/or a data center.”
WATCH:
We uncovered something far bigger than I ever expected. After seeing coordinated false attacks against the Utah data center project, we brought in an advanced data science team to trace where the content was coming from and the results were shocking. What we found led back to… pic.twitter.com/O870aqpjKr
— Kevin O’Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) May 25, 2026
He was asked by an interviewer: “Is what you’re suggesting that these entities are sort of taking funds from the Chinese Communist Party and using those funds to sort of run a digital blackmail campaign against your project?”
O’Leary responded: “I’m not suggesting it. It’s an irrefutable fact. This is IRS 990 filings with the exact dollars and dates from exactly where it came from. I’m saying that that is exactly what’s happening.”
“I shared 90 pages of evidence with federal law enforcement and raised concerns directly with contacts at the White House. This isn’t speculation. The filings, funding records, dates, and connections are documented. There’s a coordinated PR war happening around energy infrastructure and data centers, and we’re not going to ignore it.”
But O’Leary is getting harsh criticism from some Americans who are opposed to his project, which has been estimated to consume up to 9 gigawatts of electricity, or more than double the entire state of Utah’s current consumption.
“Kevin, you must be hard of hearing. The people of Utah don’t want you to destroy their land. Nothing you discover is going to change that,” said Gisela Hausmann. “Build your data center in your home country Canada.”
Nancy Taylor indicated: “Does he deny that literally all of the citizens that surround said data centers don’t want them because of raising utilizes costs and sucking up everyone’s water, and ground pollution, light pollution and sound pollution?”
Another stated: “We want a moratorium on all new data centers until all requested information is disclosed. Both Democrats and Republicans are against the tactics being used to quickly build these massive data centers so you can later say ‘too late.’ And the fact that you will not disclose all requested information confirms that you are hiding necessary information to get your way by whatever means you can. No rezoning, no water, nothing until all facts are revealed. An informed public will then vote on it. Speaking of foreigners, they seem to be very interested in investing in data centers. Why is that?”
High respect but what’s going on here? pic.twitter.com/4N0KDQeuzD
— USA sk8er (@USA_sk8er) May 26, 2026
Follow Joe on X @JoeKovacsNews
