Many Americans don’t like the AI data centers popping up in their communities, though Kevin O’Leary thinks that’s because they don’t fully understand them.

O’Leary, the venture capitalist and “Shark Tank” investor who recently starred as a villainous businessman in “Marty Supreme,” said Americans have misconceptions about data centers and their environmental impact.

“It’s understanding the concerns of people, but at the same time, think about the number of jobs,” O’Leary said in a post on X on Friday.

Addressing environmental worries, O’Leary noted that he graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in environmental studies.

“When a group comes to me and says, ‘Look, I have concerns about water, I have concerns about air, I have concerns about wildlife,’ I totally get it,” O’Leary said.

O’Leary has clashed with residents in Box Elder County, Utah, over a new AI data center he’s backing on a 40,000-acre campus.

County commissioners approved the project, which is also backed by Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority, on Monday despite the community opposition. O’Leary said, without providing evidence, that the criticism mainly came from “professional protesters” who were “paid by somebody.”

One major concern for residents about the data center — dubbed the Stratos Project — is that it could strain the water supply. Data centers can use millions of gallons of water each day. Increased utility bills, noise, and a drop in quality of life are also points of contention.

O’Leary said the public misunderstands the impact of data centers because they were “poorly represented” in the past, and that the technology powering them has “advanced dramatically.” He said data centers don’t use as much water as they once did and can use a closed-loop system to avoid evaporation. Data centers can also rely on air-cooled turbines as an alternative to managing the temperature of the computer arrays, he said.

A fact sheet published by Box Elder County said the project won’t divert water from the nearby Great Salt Lake, agriculture, or homes. It also says that Stratos won’t increase electricity prices or taxes.

Many residents, however, are not so sure. The Salt Lake Tribune reported on Thursday that an application to divert water from the Salt Wells Spring stream, near the Great Salt Lake and long used by a local ranch for irrigation, was rescinded after nearly thousands of Utah residents lodged complaints.

“At some point, understanding the value of sustainability, water and air rights, indigenous rights, and making sure the constituencies understand what you’re doing is going to be more valuable than the equity you raise,” O’Leary said on X.

Anjney Midha, a Stanford University adjunct lecturer who appeared on the “Access” podcast this week, would agree with that sentiment. He said that listening to local communities and being transparent about the intentions and impacts of data centers are essential to making them work.

“My view is that if it’s not legible to the public that these data centers and the infrastructure required to unblock this kind of frontier technology progress are serving their benefit, then it’s not going to work out,” Midha said.

In a subsequent post on X on Friday, O’Leary said his project would be “totally transparent.”

“We want it to be the shining example of how you do this,” he said.

RAWLINS, Wyoming (KUTV) — A man wanted for alleged rape and domestic violence in Utah was arrested in Wyoming.

He is “behind bars thanks to the work of eagle-eyed troopers with the Wyoming Highway Patrol,” WHP said on social media.

Troopers were alerted to a Be On The Look Out (BOLO) call at approximately 7 a.m. on Thursday for a suspect in a white Chrysler Seabreeze.

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Troopers in Rawlins, Wyoming, spotted the vehicle just after 8:30 a.m.

The suspect was arrested without incident and transported to the Carbon County Jail.

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CLEARFIELD — A program empowering northern Utah children to discover the possibilities of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will end after more than a decade of operation.

This week, Hill Air Force Base announced that it is ending its sponsorship of the Starbase program.

Starbase, a U.S. Department of Defense program, is offered throughout the country to provide hands-on learning experiences to young students — primarily fifth graders, according to a description on the curriculum’s website.

Starbase at Hill Air Force Base opened in 2011, and over the past 15 years, has ignited early STEM interest in more than 25,000 students in Davis and Weber counties.

Heather Ingle, a mother of two daughters — 14 and 11 — who have been in the program, said she was sad to hear that Starbase will no longer be offered at the northern Utah base.

“Just the thought of other kids not being able to have that guaranteed program, I think it’s sad,” she said.

Ingle’s oldest daughter participated in the weeklong Starbase program in Montana while their family was stationed in the Great Falls area. More recently, her 11-year-old daughter participated in it at Hill Air Force Base while the family has been stationed in Utah.

She said her 14-year-old was “strongly influenced” through the exploration of hands-on science, technology, engineering and mathematics experience and has shifted her career goals around based on what she learned.

Her younger daughter, on the other hand, wasn’t initially as interested in it.

“And then the first day happened, she came home and she loved it, and totally denied that she didn’t want to go that day,” Ingle told KSL. “She really enjoyed it — she likes to learn new things.”

A Hill Air Force Base press release issued Tuesday didn’t go into specifics about why they’re concluding the program, but it did allude to a funding issue.

“Today, northern Utah benefits from a robust network of STEM programs, many of which were inspired or accelerated by Starbase’s early success. This expansion, combined with changes in national program funding, marks a natural moment for transition. Concluding the program allows Hill AFB to realign resources to meet the growing demands of its core national security mission, confident that the community is well supported by a diverse and vibrant STEM landscape,” the base said.

Starbase’s final days at Hill Air Force Base raised a question for Ingle regarding the program’s future elsewhere, as their family will soon be relocating back to Montana and hopes their youngest child has an opportunity to experience it.

“I have a 5-year-old as well, and I really am hoping that the Starbase program in general continues,” she said.

A spokesperson for Hill Air Force Base said the program there will finish out the remainder of the school year and that it’s still active “at some other bases currently.”

Northern Utah benefits from a robust network of STEM programs, many of which were inspired or accelerated by Starbase’s early success.

–Hill Air Force Base

The base said it’s thankful to the many people who helped make Starbase a cornerstone in local STEM education.

“The base remains deeply committed to community partnership and will continue supporting educational outreach that inspires the next generation of innovators, leaders and problem‑solvers,” the base said.

For Ingle, she’s grateful for the opportunities her daughters have had at Starbase and for how it showed them a career they, too, can one day pursue.

“Outside of the doctor, lawyer, cop, firefighter — you know, it opens their eyes into so many different careers and specialties out there that you can touch, and I love that exposure,” she said.