A trio of Republicans requested evidence of foreign influence campaigns working to slow U.S. artificial intelligence progress and block the development of the infrastructure needed to power it.
GOP Reps. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, John Joyce of Pennsylvania and Bob Latta of Ohio sent a letter Thursday to the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology and FBI Director Kash Patel, requesting a briefing on how the Trump administration is investigating and preventing foreign influence campaigns.
Citing investigations from the Bitcoin Policy Institute and Power the Future that detail such foreign-linked influence campaigns, the three said the administration must take “any effort to undermine this objective — particularly from foreign adversaries — with a great deal of seriousness.”
The reports detail how the campaigns — many of which originate from China — have engaged in a coordinated effort to slow America’s AI development and the building of infrastructure, such as data centers.
The Bitcoin Policy Institute found that international actors are using state media organizations, nonprofit networks and dark money groups to shape U.S. policy and public opinion on artificial intelligence.
The report cited Chinese Communist Party-linked networks funded by Shanghai-based businessman and social activist Neville Roy Singham.
While Mr. Singham says he does not work at the direction of the CCP, a 2023 New York Times investigation found that he “works closely with the Chinese government media machine, and two outlets in his media network ’spread China’s voice to the world.’”
“Our nation is locked in a race with China to innovate and lead the world in the development of artificial intelligence technologies. 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,” Mr. Guthrie, chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said in a statement. “Americans deserve to know who is bankrolling the disinformation campaign that seeks to block critical infrastructure investments.”
Power the Future’s report pointed toward billionaire donors funding U.S. nonprofits to skew public opinion against AI data center infrastructure. Some activists have reportedly targeted the financial framework that funds AI infrastructure, such as scrutinizing utilities’ return on equity.
“Data centers are the foundational computing structure that makes modern life possible,” Mr. Guthrie said. “From financial and medical records that underpin the economy and personal health care to the photos and emails on our phones to the critical infrastructure that keeps the electricity flowing to homes and businesses, so much of what we take for granted in our daily digital lives relies on the data center infrastructure across the country.”
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