Университет Южной Индианы отказался назвать гонорар Кевину О'Лири за лекцию об искусственном интеллекте

EVANSVILLE – The University of Southern Indiana is refusing to say how much it's paying Kevin O'Leary for an event on artificial intelligence later this month. Zach LaGrange, the school's general counsel, said in an email to the Courier & Press on Friday that doing so would be akin to unearthing a "trade secret" under Indiana law. The booking agency bringing the "Shark Tank" star to town, however, lists the range of O'Leary's speaking fees online. According to that, USI could be paying anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000. LaGrange declined last week to fulfill the entirety of a Courier & Press request for the contract between USI and O'Leary, who's coming to the university on Sept. 23 to discuss "AI and wealth creation." The C&P sought a line-item account of any payment to O'Leary, as well as any additional expenses incurred by the university. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead, LaGrange handed over a redacted "agreement addendum." The only financial information left standing was how much USI might pay for transportation. It also listed an agreement to cover luxury hotel accommodations, but didn't offer an exact price. It states USI will provide "up to two... nights at a 5-star (or mutually agreeable) hotel that includes one... hotel suite and one... standard room." The school will also cover "meals and incidentals" for two people, as well as a $5,500 "travel buyout to cover roundtrip flights and all ground transportation." O'Leary's actual speaker fee was redacted. When the Courier & Press asked LaGrange to provide it, he said both Indiana law and past rulings from the state's public access counselor put contract pricing under the umbrella of trade secrets, allowing it to be shielded from release. "Indiana's Public Access Counselor has opined on multiple occasions that contract pricing is both financial information and trade secrets since it is 'information (that) derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known,'" he wrote. "Additional information that could impact Mr. O'Leary's safety was also redacted pursuant to APRA and PAC opinion." Advertisement Advertisement The agreement USI disclosed is printed on letterhead for AAE, or All-American Entertainment, a "full-service talent booking agency" that apparently handles a variety of celebrity keynote speakers from Monica Lewinsky and Magic Johnson to Emmitt Smith and Erin Brockovich. Its website puts O'Leary's live speaking fee between $100,000 and $200,000, the same range as 23-time gold medalist Michael Phelps. A virtual O'Leary event runs between $30,000 and $50,000. Backlash to 'Mr. Wonderful' event USI announced the event with O'Leary – best known as "Mr. Wonderful" – last month. Bankrolled by the USI Foundation, it will feature both a presentation and a q-and-a moderated by Associate Professor Nick Rhew inside Liberty Arena. "O'Leary will share insights on artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship and wealth creation in what promises to be an inspiring and thought-provoking evening," the news release read in part. Advertisement Advertisement USI posted the news to its official Facebook page on Aug. 18. Within hours, dozens of commenters criticized the decision, blasting the school for bringing in an AI backer and investor amid data center backlashes in the Evansville area and nationwide. O'Leary's proposed 40,000-acre data center compound in Utah has sparked lawsuits and even upended that state's primary elections earlier this year, leading to the ouster of one of Utah's most powerful politicians. In a statement to the Courier & Press, USI spokesman John Farless said the university booked O'Leary in July 2025, "long before conversations about potential data centers locally." AI, he said, "is only one piece of what Mr. O'Leary plans to discuss." "USI hosts speakers representing a broad range of perspectives and expertise. The purpose of this event is to explore topics related to entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence and innovation through discussion and dialogue," he said. "Hosting a speaker does not constitute endorsement of all views, opinions or activities associated with that individual. We welcome respectful conversation and questions around these important topics." What Indiana law says about withholding contract agreements In an email to the Courier & Press, LaGrange cited Indiana code 5-14-3-4, which lays out what records are disclosable under state law. Specifically, IC 5-14-3-4(a)(4) states that "records containing trade secrets" are exempted from public disclosures. Advertisement Advertisement IC 24-2-3-2 offers a lengthy yet still unclear definition of a trade secret. It characterizes it as a "formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process" that has economic value due to "not being generally known." Past public access counselor decisions reviewed by the Courier & Press showed that the state has gone back and forth on trade secret advisory opinions. Sometimes it sides with public entities looking to withhold info, while ruling that they overestimated the definition of a trade secret in others. In 2020, former access counselor Luke Britt wrote that "Indiana courts have observed trade secrets to be 'one of the most elusive and difficult concepts in law to define.'" This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: USI won't say how much it's paying Kevin O'Leary for AI event