Kanter and Finlayson Sue Kevin O'Leary and Fox News

The Alliance for a Better Utah, Elevate Strategies, Joshua Kanter, and Gabrielle Finlayson filed a defamation lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah against businessman Kevin O'Leary and Fox News Network. The plaintiffs allege O'Leary conducted a weeks-long smear campaign across at least 10 media appearances, falsely claiming the groups and individuals were proxies for the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party.

O'Leary made these claims while promoting the Stratos Project, a proposed 40,000-acre AI data center in Box Elder County. He initially described his accusations as an "irrefutable fact," but he later admitted on social media on June 25 that he had no evidence of Chinese funding. Fox News issued corrections and an apology for the error.

Despite the retractions, the plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages for reputational and economic harm. Fox News Media stated it will vigorously defend against the action, noting that it publicly corrected the record on every program where the comments were made. Legal counsel for O'Leary characterized the lawsuit as a "cash grab."