Kevin O'Leary, the businessman and Shark Tank star, is being sued for defamation after repeatedly claiming on Fox News and elsewhere that opponents of his proposed AI data centre in Utah had ties to China. The lawsuit, filed by Alliance for a Better Utah, Elevate Strategies, Gabrielle Finlayson and Josh Kanter, accuses O'Leary of a "defamatory smear campaign" that caused reputational and financial harm as well as emotional distress and safety concerns for those named.

The suit, filed on Wednesday in a Utah federal district court, cites at least ten media appearances by O'Leary in May and June, including one where he described Finlayson and Kanter as "proxies for the Chinese government". It also criticises Fox News for repeatedly platforming the claims without challenge, though Fox says it corrected the record on every affected programme and will contest the case. O'Leary himself has not apologised but stated on Instagram last month that he has no evidence the named individuals or groups are funded by China or the Chinese Communist Party.