Decoder with Nilay Patel · 2026-10-01

How Utah locals fought Kevin O'Leary's AI data center

Our read of the tone: Mixed — shifts registerOur read of the candor: mediummedium confidence

This is Wakewire's analysis, based on the recording and the passages quoted here. Tone and candor labels are our read, not a finding about anyone's motive. Our standards

Source: Decoder with Nilay Patel
Released: 2026-10-01
We read it: 2026-10-01
Recording: Recording has gaps
Read confidence: medium
Review: Passed automatic checks

What the episode covered

Josh Chezza said Kevin O'Leary's Utah data center project gained state-level momentum before county consent and then stalled amid local opposition and litigation. The register is mixed, with reported specifics alongside broad boom framing, and the transcript has visible skips. Watch whether litigation, power sourcing, and local concessions determine if Stratus returns or stays paused.

Our summary, written from the transcript. Not the speakers' words.

The episode, in order

01Project scale
The size makes local permitting, power sourcing, and public consent central to whether the project can proceed.
02Approval path
The story turns on the gap between state-level development speed and county-level public process.
03Local backlash
The episode presents local opposition as a practical brake on speed-driven AI infrastructure development.
04O'Leary's public role
The exchange shows how a national political argument about China did not translate cleanly into local support for the project.
05AI infrastructure economics
The broader frame is that speculative development can move faster than local communities and infrastructure planning.

Sponsors named in this episode

Sponsor stated	Where, claim and disclosure
CrowdStrike	pre-roll · disclosureDisclosure stated
Doppel	pre-roll · product claimDisclosure stated
Monday.com	pre-roll · product claimDisclosure stated
Apple Watch Series 12	post-roll · product claimDisclosure stated
Mazda	post-roll · product claimDisclosure stated
BJ's Wholesale Club	post-roll · discount codeDisclosure stated

No sponsor named doesn't mean no ads. Each row was taken from the ad break as it was read on air. The verbatim passage behind every row is checked against the transcript character for character. Short excerpts appear below.

Roles and stated affiliations

Sponsor or conflict flagged. AI-adjacent advertising — The pre-roll included CrowdStrike, Doppel, and Monday.com ad copy marketing AI security or AI work products while the editorial conversation discussed the AI infrastructure boom. No additional commercial relationship with the Utah project was stated on the recording.

Wakewire's read of interests

Nilay Patel: Host and editor-in-chief of The Verge, introducing and testing a Verge-reported story about AI infrastructure, politics, and local democracy.
Josh Chezza: The Verge features writer who spent months reporting on the Utah project and is explaining the findings on his own publication's podcast.

Recording limits

The transcript appears to skip material at least twice, including after "you've now had" and after "we're going to be good for the money no matter what happens,".

Claims that need more support

Josh Chezza said powered-land packages can go for 20 times or more what raw land would cost, but the episode did not provide an example, denominator, or cited source for that figure.

Claims made on air that the episode itself did not back up.

Questions the conversation didn't reach

The conversation raised how Wonder Valley would secure more than 9 gigawatts of power, but did not answer what generation, grid connection, or permits would supply it.

Topics the episode did not address. This does not mean anyone avoided them.

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The read

The episode's strongest signal is that Wonder Valley is being used as a case study in speed meeting local process. The charitable read is that state and developer channels were trying to assemble a fast, competitive AI infrastructure package. The boring read is that an approval sequence, a public rollout, and a referendum collided. The skeptical read is that the economics and power plan were treated as less concrete than the race to package land, permits, and political momentum.

This read assumes: The transcript excerpt is representative of the episode's main argument. The visible transcript skips did not remove a detailed counterargument from project backers. The quoted description of the development chain is Chezza's synthesis of his reporting, not a full documentary record of every approval step.

Every opinion labeled as one. This is Wakewire's analysis of the recording, not a finding about anyone's motive.

What was said

Project scale
Patel introduced Wonder Valley as the proposed largest data center in the world, with 40,000 acres and more than 9 gigawatts of power.
Approval path
Chezza said the project moved through MIDA and that MIDA had approved it before the county had given consent.
Local backlash
Chezza said local activists filed a referendum to repeal county consent, the case is being litigated, and the project is paused.
O'Leary's public role
Patel and Chezza discussed O'Leary becoming the face of the project, attacking protesters on Fox, apologizing, and then responding to The Verge through lawyers.
AI infrastructure economics
Chezza said hyperscaler demand for speed has created a market for powered land assembly and paper data centers.

Our paraphrase, not the speakers' words.

The passages we relied on

"At no part in this chain are local residents a player. They're just not there. Like, they're not part of this system. And so you have something like Stratus where just no one bothered to tell anyone in Boxelder County…"
The passage behind our read, Decoder with Nilay Patel

"Support for this show comes from CrowdStrike. It's not a huge stretch to say"
Ad read for CrowdStrike, Decoder with Nilay Patel

"Maybe that late-night ping is an urgent email from your CEO, or maybe it's"
Ad read for Doppel, Decoder with Nilay Patel

"You know that feeling when too many things fall through the cracks? Monday.com was"
Ad read for Monday.com, Decoder with Nilay Patel

"Your heart can tell you a lot about your health. Apple Watch Series 12"
Ad read for Apple Watch Series 12, Decoder with Nilay Patel

"This is the sound of confidence. Confidence behind the wheel of the Mazda CX-50"
Ad read for Mazda, Decoder with Nilay Patel

"Hank joined BJ's Wholesale Club the day he became a father of 30. I"
Ad read for BJ's Wholesale Club, Decoder with Nilay Patel

Short excerpts, credited to the show, at most 40 words each and 150 per episode. We do not publish transcripts. We link to the episode so you can hear it from the show itself.

What to watch for

A court ruling on the local referendum or county consent. (Near term litigation cycle.)
A concrete power plan naming generation sources, grid arrangements, turbines, and permitting status. (Before any revived construction timeline becomes credible.)
New community benefits, tax-break changes, or public meetings tied to the project. (Next county or state approval phase.)

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