House Energy and Commerce Republicans are claiming there is “strong evidence” that growing opposition to data centers in communities across the country is due, at least in part, to foreign influence campaigns linked to China.
Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) led a letter Thursday urging the Trump administration to investigate alleged efforts by foreign adversaries to slow U.S. artificial intelligence development by fueling opposition to the data centers needed to support the technology.
“The fact that Chinese Communist Party-backed entities and other foreign adversaries may be attempting to influence decisions related to American data center infrastructure puts into perspective how serious of a fight we are in,” Guthrie said. “Americans deserve to know who is bankrolling the disinformation campaign that seeks to block critical infrastructure investments.”
Asked Thursday whether he’s worried that China is funding an anti-data center movement in the U.S., President Donald Trump said, “No, I’m not worried about it. We had a great meeting with China. And you know, they do things to us, and we do things to them. I say it all the time.”
Republicans pointed to a recent report from the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a think tank, that argues Chinese state media outlets, foreign-funded nonprofits and anti-data-center advocacy groups are part of a broader ecosystem opposing AI infrastructure development in the United States.
Another report cited in the letter, from right-leaning group Power The Future, alleges that billionaire donors with foreign ties funnel money through a complex network of nonprofits and advocacy groups that have helped drive opposition to data center development.
The reports do not establish direct coordination between foreign governments and specific U.S. anti–data-center campaigns. Instead, they point to funding relationships, overlapping messaging and what they characterize as ideological alignment between foreign-linked actors and some U.S. advocacy groups.
Republicans asked the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and FBI Director Kash Patel for a briefing by June 18 to help lawmakers “better understand how the Administration is investigating the foreign influence campaigns and taking action to mitigate these efforts.”
The letter comes as opposition to data centers has gained traction in both Republican- and Democratic-leaning communities. The New York Legislature will soon pass a one-year moratorium on certain data center developments, while Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams has called on a major data center project to significantly reduce its footprint.
The Energy and Commerce Committee itself is considering one of several proposals to address data center energy demand and protect ratepayers. House appropriators recently approved a spending bill amendment for the Department of Energy to identify and mitigate data centers’ impact on energy and water.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have announced plans for federal legislation that would place a moratorium on new data center development. It doesn’t have much traction.
The Trump administration, which has strongly backed AI development, has previously suggested that growing opposition to data centers may be driven by outside interests.
“It’s not organic and local, some of this is foreign-sourced dark money coming in,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said at a May event hosted by Breitbart News. “The people who used to fight on climate change have shifted.”
The group Food & Water Watch has been at the center of pushing for national and state data center moratoriums. It said the GOP letter’s claims were “disingenuous attacks” tied to Big Tech.
“The rapidly expanding grassroots opposition to out-of-control AI data center construction is plain to see. And the source of this rising opposition is equally clear: skyrocketing energy bills for everyday families, alarming water consumption in regions already suffering from drought, increased fossil fuel pollution, and all manner of other community disruptions,” said a statement from policy director Jim Walsh.
Data center developments have questioned claims they’re to blame for rising electricity prices. They have promised to pay for their own energy use.
Republicans have long sought to draw connections between foreign actors — particularly China — and the activities of environmental groups, including their lobbying campaigns, litigation and grassroots organizing. Groups have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Most recently, the House Ways and Means Committee held a February hearing titled “Foreign Influence in American Non-Profits: Unmasking Threats From Beijing and Beyond.”
Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy Chair Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair John Joyce (R-Ohio) joined Guthrie on the letter.
Pavan Acharya contributed to this report.
