GoKawiilTo say that data centers are becoming unpopular would be the understatement of the decade. Cities, states, and countries are racing to impose strong restrictions on new buildouts, when they're not banning them altogether. Predictably, Utah residents are up in arms about Shark Tank billionaire investor Kevin O'Leary's new $100-billion, 40,000-acre data center. There's a twist, though: O'Leary, the Trump administration, and pro-industry groups claim the opposition is driven by Chinese propaganda, as detailed in an exposé at The Washington Post.
O'Leary, or "Mr. Wonderful," as he's known to friends, made this statement for the first time in a May 10 interview with Fox News, further expanding it across subsequent TV interviews and X posts. He added claims that "hundreds of millions of dollars" coming in from China make up the effort, often funneled through other nations to reach paid protesters, which, in the case of Utah, were allegedly 90% bussed in.
The Post report also notes that some U.S. officials have expressed similar views, such as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who has stated that "[opposition is] not organic and local. Some of this is foreign source dark money coming in," adding later on that "any place that's trying to build data centers is getting bombarded with foreign-directed propaganda." As of this writing, neither O'Leary nor Burgum has provided verifiable evidence for these claims. Interestingly enough, O'Leary also believes that regular power plant projects are also being targeted by foreign astroturfing.
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These allegations have been met with skepticism from various parts, and are a particularly difficult sell when datacenters often rocket power prices in their surrounding areas, drain the pool of potable water, and might even emit infrasonic vibrations.
The public is also becoming increasingly aware of AI-driven component shortages, thanks to the rising prices of laptops, desktops, phones, and other electronics — as well as the rising costs of repairing them. And, of course, the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of job cuts thanks to the newfound focus on automation, as well as the worsening quality of many services due to the usage of AI bots rather than humans.
Even some parties that support the notion of Chinese interference are aware of the particular optics around this situation. According to The Post, Ryan Fedasiuk of the American Enterprise Institute says the inference issue is real, but also cautions "that China isn't the reason AI buildouts are unpopular in the United States." Likewise, the Bitcoin Policy Institute issued a report where it states there's a "foreign influence campaign against American AI," but also that "Americans do have serious concerns that need to be heard."
Having said that, as sung in the grunge days, "just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not after you." Both the U.S. and China are effectively in an A.I. arms race, pushing government policies that generally favor big tech companies — at least until the financial grim reaper comes. Therefore, however outlandish O'Leary's claims might appear at first glance, it's usually a safe assumption that any superpower will always be meddling with the others' efforts, and attempting to kneecap A.I. development is as good a target as any.
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