Republicans probe China's influence in data center opposition

Source: Politico

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."

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.

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