The head of a tech industry trade association said actors linked to China are behind a push against data centers in the U.S. as the race to dominate the AI field continues.
Steve DelBianco, president and CEO of NetChoice, said "Americans have AI anxiety for a variety of reasons, and that makes it particularly susceptible to disinformation about data centers."
Axios noted that groups making such claims say they can't precisely identify all the efforts against data centers being pushed by China and proxies, but they listed posts and accounts originated in foreign countries spreading such messages.
Investor Kevin O'Leary made a similar claim recently, saying that opposition to his massive proposed AI data center in Box Elder County is being fueled by interests linked to China.
The "Shark Tank" investor, who is backing the Stratos Project through O'Leary Digital, has accused some critics of spreading misinformation about the development and suggested foreign-connected money is helping slow U.S. data center and power infrastructure.
"Who would want us to stop building our electrical grid? Who would want to stop us from having compute capacity to develop AI? Which adversary would want that? There's only one: it's China," O'Leary said in a Fox News interview.
The project, also referred to as Wonder Valley, has been described as a 40,000-acre data center campus in rural Box Elder County. Reports have said it could require up to 9 gigawatts of power, more than double Utah's current average electricity consumption.
O'Leary has said the facility would generate its own power, rather than draw from the existing local grid, and has promoted the project as critical for U.S. competitiveness in artificial intelligence. Residents and environmental advocates have raised concerns about water use and its effect on the Great Salt Lake region.
Others are rejecting the arguments. Elena Schlossberg, a Northern Virginia-based anti-data center activist, told Axios that she can assure opposition to data centers is "organic."
"How? Because I talk to people, all over the country, searching for help to stop the industrialization of their communities," she said.
The outlet also noted that different polls have also supported these arguments. One from Gallup in May showed that over 70% of Americans oppose the construction of data centers in their communities.
