Report links China-based mogul to campaign undermining US AI, data center development
A report alleges that China-based American mogul Neville Roy Singham is orchestrating a covert campaign through U.S. nonprofits to undermine American AI development and data center construction. This campaign seeks to give China a technological advantage by fostering opposition to data centers and U.S. export controls. U.S. lawmakers are calling for an investigation into these foreign influence efforts, which have coincided with local data center moratoriums in places like Prince George's County, Maryland, and Charlotte, North Carolina.
A report from the Bitcoin Policy Institute claims that Neville Roy Singham, an American expatriate residing in Shanghai with alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party, is orchestrating an influence campaign in the United States. According to the report, Singham uses a network of American nonprofits, including Code Pink and The People's Forum, to generate opposition to artificial intelligence development and the construction of data centers, while also campaigning against U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductors to China.
Several U.S. lawmakers, including Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Brett Guthrie, have cited the report and urged the administration to investigate these alleged foreign influence efforts. Senator Cotton specifically called for the Department of Justice to launch an inquiry into what he described as an attempt to undermine American prosperity.
The campaign's messaging, which includes characterizing U.S. data centers as fronts in a "new Cold War on China" and blaming them for environmental and health issues, appears to align with Chinese government talking points. Critics suggest this network is a source of "global Chinese propaganda," as identified in a 2023 New York Times investigation into Singham's activities. The article notes that this opposition has manifested in local actions, such as temporary halts on data center development in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and a five-month moratorium in Charlotte, North Carolina, following campaigns championed by groups allegedly connected to Singham's network. While some U.S. media outlets have begun to question whether China is merely a scapegoat for domestic data center backlash, the Free Beacon report suggests a more direct foreign influence.
Key organizations in the alleged network include Code Pink, led by Singham's wife Jodie Evans, and The People's Forum, a New York City event space. Tricontinental, a Massachusetts-based think tank chaired by Singham, is identified as a hub for the network's activities, pushing narratives against U.S. technological security measures. Sam Lyman, the report's author, has called for Congress to subpoena leaders of the Singham-backed nonprofits and Singham himself.