Political strategists Gabi Finlayson and Jackie Morgan were driving out of a Utah canyon early last week when their cell phones came back online and started exploding. They received message after message from people checking on them and encouraging them to do their best.
“We were like, ‘What’s going on?'” Finlayson told Business Insider.
The co-founders of Elevate Strategies were mentioned in a Fox Business segment in which “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary said some of the critics of the state’s new data center project had ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
“Who would want us to stop building the power grid? Who would want us to stop having the computing power to develop AI? What enemy would want that?” he said. “There’s only one, and that’s China.”
“My contention is that they are agents of the Chinese government, and if they’re not, then I want them to be able to protect their name,” O’Leary said, accusing Finlayson and others by name and telling them to “come out wherever you are.”
Jackie Morgan and Gabi Finlayson spoke out against O’Leary’s data center. Courtesy of Jackie Morgan and Gabi Finlayson
Finlayson said she was initially intimidated by the comments, but after watching the video, she was more confused than anything.
“This is so crazy, so bizarre. There’s no way people would believe this,” Finlayson said of the initial reaction.
In a video posted on social media soon after, they challenged O’Leary’s comments and mocked him for appearing on TV wearing a suit and flip-flops.
“The only foreign agents here are wealthy Canadians who are trying to destroy our country,” Finlayson repeated in a mocking tone when he told Business Insider on Friday.
O’Leary did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
O’Leary Ventures CEO Paul Parandjian said in a statement to Business Insider that the company is not accusing any individual of being a foreign agent, but is calling for more transparency in the funding network behind the project’s opponents.
“Let’s be clear about Elevate: We recognize that Elevate’s representatives are American political strategists. We’re not disputing that,” Parandjan said. “What we have asked for, and continue to ask for, is full donor transparency from the organizations funding opposition to this project.”
data center backlash
Mr. Finlayson and Mr. Morgan co-founded Elevate Strategies, which runs Democratic campaigns, and Elevate Utah, a political content platform that has posted online opposing the Stratos Project, a data center supported by O’Leary in Box Elder County, Utah.
The multibillion-dollar, 40,000-acre AI data center was approved by county commissioners earlier this month.
Community members have expressed concerns about the impact the data center will have on local water supplies, utility bills, and overall quality of life. Some people criticize the whole thing Economic impact of technology.
Mr O’Leary said the project would bring thousands of jobs to the local community. He also said data center technology has improved and doesn’t require nearly the same amount of water as before. He proposed closed-loop systems (reusing a certain amount of water for cooling) and air-cooled turbines.
Business Insider reported that after speaking with Paranjian last week, he said the data center could create about 4,000 new pieces of data. construction industry Over 10 to 15 years, that’s about 6,000 fewer people than Mr. O’Leary has said in the past.
In an updated statement to Business Insider, Paranjian said the local community’s concerns are “legitimate and we take all of them seriously.”
“Box Elder County residents asking tough questions about the impact on water, air, heat, jobs and taxes deserve direct answers backed by primary sources,” he said. “That’s exactly what our public affairs site provides and what our submissions to the Utah Water Rights Board, Air Quality Board, Water Quality Board, Drinking Water Board, and Wildlife Resources Board will cover for years to come.”
Protesters attend meeting where Box Elder Data Center was approved. Natalie Bering/Getty Images
The issues raised by Box Elder County locals echo national concerns over data centers that have become lightning rods. According to a recent Gallup poll, 71% of Americans say they don’t want data centers built where they live.
AI infrastructure projects have been so unpopular that several high-profile plans have been scrapped and some states are seeking to ban future construction.
On social media and television, O’Leary accused data center critics of “paid protests” and misunderstood the project’s impact on local communities.
“In fact, I’m the only data center developer on the planet with an environmental studies degree, so I’m very aware of what these concerns are,” he said in a video posted to X.
Correction, May 18, 2026 — An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated when Finlayson and Morgan learned about O’Leary’s Fox Business division. It was last week, not this week.