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- Republicans call on FBI to investigate data center opposition
- Group alleges opposition is a Chinese influence campaign
- Independent investigations point the finger at pro-environmentalists and Democrats
A group of Republicans have called upon FBI Director Kash Patel to investigate anti-data center sentiment, alleging that the rising tide of opposition is being fueled by China.
The open letter, written by Republican lawmakers from the Committee on Energy and Commerce, “writes to express our concerns regarding evidence that strongly suggests foreign influence campaigns targeting artificial intelligence development in the U.S.”
Kentucky Rep. Brett Guthrie, Pennsylvania Rep. John Joyce, and Ohio Rep. Bob Latta cited evidence from independent investigations conducted by Power The Future, an energy advocacy group pushing for greater use of fossil fuels and opposing pro-environmental groups, and the Bitcoin Policy Institute think tank.
Data center opposition fueled by China?
The Bitcoin Policy Institute’s investigation has tied Sen. Bernie Sanders panel at the Capitol on “the existential threat of AI” as a key piece of evidence due to the presence of two Chinese panelists, Zeng Yi, Dean of the Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance, and Xue Lan, a professor at Tsinghua University. The think tank’s investigation states, “The fact that this panel happened at all is itself telling.”
Power The Future’s investigation includes a section on “IDENTICAL FRAMING ACROSS STATES”. The investigation examined anti-data center materials from movements in Virginia, Wisconsin, and Georgia, and alleges that the inclusion of similar phrasing around water usage, energy constraints, transparency surrounding approval, and utility bill use “language too similar to be coincidental”.
Additionally, the Power The Future report accuses the “environmental left” of “hijacking MAGA” to push through legislation restricting the construction of data centers. The report seeks to frame widespread Republican opposition to data centers as being orchestrated by left wing environmentalists, stating, “the environmental left has proven remarkably skilled at embedding its resources in communities that would reject its broader agenda if it showed up wearing its own name”
According to Data Center Watch, whose statistics have been quoted in Power The Future’s investigation, 55% of politicians who have made public statements in opposition to data center projects have been Republicans.
The lawmaker’s letter suggests that the entire data center opposition movement is “engaged in a coordinated effort to slow U.S. growth in AI development and the building of infrastructure supporting AI data centers.”
Local opposition at the county, city, town, and township level has blocked over $64 billion worth of data center projects. Now, numerous state-level moratoriums on datacenters have been submitted, with New York’s own legislation making the greatest progress towards implementation.
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