Photo via Fast Company
The race to build massive artificial intelligence infrastructure is reshaping how companies think about data center development. Kevin O'Leary, the real estate investor known for his Shark Tank appearances, is betting that sprawling facilities like his proposed 7.5-gigawatt Stratos project in Utah represent the future of the industry. According to Fast Company, O'Leary argues that hyperscaler companies including OpenAI, Amazon, Google, and Meta are driving demand for enormous, purpose-built complexes because the economics of AI infrastructure require unprecedented scale.
The Stratos project, which received initial county approval in May, would span 10,000 acres north of the Great Salt Lake—an area roughly two-thirds the size of Manhattan. O'Leary Digital plans to construct 55 interconnected data center buildings in six phases over a decade, complete with on-site natural gas generation, a 3,000-acre solar field, and an innovation district. The development could employ more than 2,000 workers, suggesting significant economic impact beyond the facility's primary function of processing AI workloads.
For Atlanta's real estate and technology sectors, the Stratos model signals where infrastructure investment is heading. As major cloud providers race to secure competitive advantages in AI, similar mega-projects may emerge nationwide, affecting land use, energy demand, and regional development patterns. Atlanta-area commercial real estate professionals and economic development officials are watching how regulatory approval processes unfold in other regions, potentially informing local zoning and incentive discussions around data center clusters.
However, O'Leary's project faces significant local opposition over environmental concerns, including water usage and energy consumption. Alliance for a Better Utah has mobilized a referendum challenge to reverse the county's approval. The controversy underscores a broader tension: as companies pursue the infrastructure needed for AI dominance, communities are demanding greater input into projects that could reshape their regions for decades. This dynamic will likely define how similar facilities are developed and negotiated in markets across the country, including the Southeast.
