{"id":820,"date":"2025-04-18T20:28:48","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T20:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techrepublic.com\/?p=4302199"},"modified":"2025-04-18T20:28:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T20:28:48","slug":"shark-tanks-mr-wonderful-is-building-the-worlds-largest-ai-data-center-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.tecnoartesanos.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/18\/shark-tanks-mr-wonderful-is-building-the-worlds-largest-ai-data-center-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Shark Tank\u2019s Mr. Wonderful is Building the World\u2019s Largest AI Data Center in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo
Photo from Data Center World 2025 in Washington, D.C. Image: Drew Robb\/TechnologyAdvice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kevin O\u2019Leary \u2014 better known as \u201cMr. Wonderful\u201d from ABC\u2019s \u201cShark Tank\u201d \u2014 made a surprise appearance at Data Center World 2025 in Washington, D.C. What\u2019s a venture capitalist doing at a major IT event? He\u2019s building the world\u2019s largest AI factories, and he\u2019s ready to talk about it.<\/p>\n

The project, called Wonder Valley, is a massive off-grid AI data center under construction in Alberta\u2019s Municipal District of Greenview in Canada. Purpose-built for AI workloads, the facility will span 6,000 acres and boast a staggering 7.5 gigawatts of power capacity. The initial phase of 1.5 GW is expected to complete in the 2027-2028 timeframe at a cost of $2 billion; the remainder will be added gradually over the next few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cData centers are today\u2019s gold rush,\u201d said O\u2019Leary during his keynote. \u201cAI is in high demand, and the strongest market is in companies of 5 to 500 employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Bypassing lengthy regulatory and grid interconnect delays<\/span><\/h2>\n

O\u2019Leary explained how difficult it can be to build and power a new data center.<\/p>\n

He said the regulatory environment is difficult; there are many permitting and approval hurdles to overcome. Utilities prefer to take half a decade or more to deliver power to new customers. He gave an example of a data center asking for 250 MW now and 250 MW more in two years. The response: 25 MW was all they could get \u2014 but not for another three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to attract investors, you have to get a project operational within 24 months,\u201d said O\u2019Leary. \u201cWe had to figure out how to pull this off when there was no power available on the grid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Solution: Find sources of stranded power, specifically large quantities of natural gas that may not have easy access to the market. In that order, he found the best sources: Alberta, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Virginia.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlberta, Canada, is the motherload in North America with about 10 times the natural gas of all others,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n