China Blame for Data Center Backlash Has Thin Evidence — SkimNews
Get the Tech newsletter
Daily tech — startups, AI labs, chips, the launches that shape the next decade. Free.
- X identified 200 accounts linked to China spreading anti-data-center talking points in late August, but those accounts were a tiny fraction of the 200,000-account bot farm X identified in the same report.
- OpenAI banned a cluster of users in June it linked to the Chinese government for "testing narratives against AI infrastructure," while acknowledging those accounts were merely exploiting existing domestic discontent around data centers.
- President Trump posted on Truth Social defending data centers and blaming China for the anti-data-center movement just days after X's report, writing "let Data Reign!"
- Opposition to data centers has surged to as high as 75% of Americans (up from 42% last year), with politicians including Republican Texas governor Greg Abbott and Democrat Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro shifting their stance ahead of the midterms.
- Graphika VP of intelligence Tyler Williams told WIRED there is still very little evidence of significant foreign intervention in data center opposition, with most online sentiment remaining homegrown.
- WIRED senior business editor and China expert Louise Matsakis called the episode a "scapegoat" pattern, saying Americans "find it easier to put the blame on a nebulous other" than examine their own concerns.
Why it matters: With opposition to local data centers jumping 33 percentage points in one year and midterm elections approaching, the China scapegoat lets data center boosters and political allies — including the president — deflect from the domestic grievances over environmental impact, water and energy use, and AI-driven development that are actually driving the backlash.
Ask SkimNews
