China is being blamed for stoking the grassroots revolt against artificial intelligence in the U.S.

Updated on: Sep 7, 2026, 17:59:47 IST

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If you’re against AI data centers, the joke’s on you.



That’s the message from Silicon Valley and, increasingly, the Trump administration.

For weeks, tech leaders have suggested foreign powers—maybe even socialists—are really behind the U.S. populist movement against artificial intelligence. In particular, China.

It fits a broader narrative pushed by President Trump in the run-up to the midterm elections that the Democratic Party has been taken over by left-wing extremists. And even though the anti-data-center revolt is unusually bipartisan, according to polling, Trump waded into the debate this past week.

The president warned communities opposing data centers would “end up being backwards and poor,” and that “China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement.”

China, China, China. That’s one of the big questions hanging over November’s elections: Which do voters fear more, China or AI data centers?

This past week’s stepped-up public campaign to build support for AI follows Hot Luddite Summer and weeks of growing revolt around the physical manifestation of the technology.

The vibe shift caught Silicon Valley flat-footed. Key to lofty valuations being assigned to the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI is the assumption of massive growth—growth that can only occur if more data centers are opened to build and fuel AI’s expanse.

In turn, Trump appears to be depending on those construction projects—as well as Wall Street exuberance for AI—to bolster his case for the strength of an economy that many see as unaffordable.

If it wasn’t already clear which camp the Trump administration was in, his Justice Department this past week sided with OpenAI in its legal battle with the New York Times over a copyright dispute. “Rules of law that make it significantly more difficult to develop a robust AI industry in the United States therefore threaten national security and give a competitive advantage to foreign adversaries who are not so encumbered,” the Justice Department told a federal judge Tuesday.

The filing didn’t specifically mention China, but one can read between the lines: China, China, China.

A tech race needs a good adversary. Tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union helped fuel the space race. Generations later, China and its tech ambitions are providing similar grist.

The real threat of China’s potential advances in AI has been used as a weapon to fight off state regulations. It has also been cited by Trump in support of his light-touch approach to the burgeoning industry even as big-name Republican governors have called for slowing things down.

It’s only natural then that China would become the excuse for why some Americans are voicing their unease with data centers in their communities, worried about electricity prices and water consumption.

To counter those concerns, the pro-AI crowd in recent days has pushed back with arguments apparently aimed at appealing to rural America. On Tuesday, OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman suggested in a podcast that new data centers were more efficient than almond farming, while the next day Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick pointed to how much water cattle consume. In a CNBC interview, Lutnick laughed off the water issue, calling it “propaganda by our adversaries.”

As they fight memes, some have blamed the Chinese Communist Party’s use of social media to stoke concerns. “It’s almost like not banning TikTok has had real world consequences as the U.S. population continues being poisoned by CCP propaganda,” Trae Stephens, a venture capitalist and co-founder of Anduril, recently posted on X.

In June, OpenAI said it had banned two clusters of ChatGPT accounts likely originating from China. It said they were being used to support an “apparent covert influence operation,” including creating social-media content claiming data centers were increasing electricity prices.

Albert Zhang, part of OpenAI’s team identifying misuse, later clarified during a company event that they weren’t trying to claim all data center debates originated from foreign actors, noting some of the suspected posts they found had very few views (“like three views”).

“It was important for us to disclose this particular operation because it says a lot about the intent of” China “actors and maybe an indication of other operations that may be running across the U.S.,” he said. (In a statement Friday, OpenAI said people have real concerns and “it’s our responsibility to earn their trust.”)

Then late last month, Elon Musk’s social-media network X published its own findings after investigating suspected Chinese influence operations. Those findings included images similar to what OpenAI had highlighted.

In response, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.), joined others in expressing concerns about the Chinese Communist Party. “It’s not surprising that the CCP is working overtime to derail America’s lead in AI. That kind of desperation is a clear sign they are nervous,” she posted on X.

Given the thin evidence, though, not everyone is convinced. Andy Masley, a high-profile AI researcher who has fought to debunk concerns about data-center water usage, questioned the suggestion the CCP was behind the campaign. “This looks much more like a general bot farm trying to get attention,” he posted on X.

Still, socialism is a good foil. Outside the Brooklyns and Berkeleys of the world, certain parts of America have historically looked pretty skeptically on such politics. In Michigan, for example, an EPIC-MRA poll conducted this summer found 51% of voters were unfavorable to socialism while just 22% were favorable.

Subsequently, another survey by EPIC-MRA found 62% of Michigan voters opposed development of data centers.

We get back to that question, which is worse: China or AI data centers?

In backing data centers, the risk to Trump is that he alienates core supporters ahead of what’s expected to be a close election with Republican control of Congress in play. Quick to respond to his support, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the former congresswoman who has had a public falling out with the president, posted on social media: “Good luck winning the midterms now that MAGA means mass data centers, flock cameras and surveillance state.”

Similarly, for the tech companies, their embrace of a new Red Scare risks further inflaming grassroots opponents who may not like being labeled socialist dupes.

Write to Tim Higgins at tim.higgins@wsj.com

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