Fact Check: Did Chinese influence shape US opposition to data centers?
President Trump claimed that Chinese influence is behind US opposition to AI data centers. A fact-check found this misleading, concluding that while Chinese-linked actors amplified concerns, they did not create the widespread, bipartisan opposition. This national debate is driven by genuine local concerns about electricity use, water resources, and local development.
President Donald Trump claimed that widespread opposition to data centers in the United States is orchestrated by China, stating it's a "China PR thing" during a Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham on September 10. This assertion has added a national security and foreign influence dimension to the ongoing national debate surrounding AI infrastructure, which includes concerns from communities, lawmakers, and technology companies regarding electricity use, water resources, and local development.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum echoed these sentiments in May, telling Fox Business that "foreign source dark money," "foreign psy-ops campaigns," and "foreign-directed propaganda" were fueling the pushback against data center projects. These claims followed reports of Chinese influence campaigns attempting to amplify existing concerns about US data centers, with OpenAI reporting that a China-linked operation used its models to create social media content related to electricity prices, and X identifying around 200 accounts involved in potential manipulation.
However, a fact-check revealed these claims to be misleading. While there is evidence that Chinese-linked actors attempted to amplify concerns, there is no indication that China created or broadly drove the widespread opposition. OpenAI found no evidence that the operation gained significant reach, and experts cited by PolitiFact suggest foreign actors amplified pre-existing concerns rather than generating the opposition.
The opposition to data centers is broad and bipartisan, spanning numerous states. A University of Pennsylvania survey indicated that 61% of US adults oppose data centers in their area, with majorities across political affiliations. Key concerns include electricity costs, water usage, land impact, and local community effects, demonstrating that genuine local concerns, rather than solely foreign influence, primarily drive the debate.