China must not weaponize America’s data center debate

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Bob McEwen, a Republican, represented Ohio’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 1993, where he served on the House Select Committee on Intelligence. 

The United States and China are locked in a race for artificial intelligence dominance that will help determine the balance of power for decades to come. The nation that wins will not only build better products, it will have greater influence over the standards, platforms and values that govern the next technological era.

President Donald Trump understands the stakes. His AI Action Plan recognizes that breakthroughs in software depend on the physical systems that support them, from advanced computing infrastructure to reliable sources of power. America needs the world’s best chips and models, but neither matters without the data centers and electricity required to train and deploy them.

That is where our greatest strategic competitor may be probing for weakness.

OpenAI recently disclosed that China was likely behind an online influence operation to sway American perceptions of artificial intelligence and to reshape the debate in Washington surrounding data center construction. The campaign promoted claims that AI infrastructure was driving up household electricity prices and attempted to insert those messages into a legitimate domestic debate. Unfortunately, this is not the first such accusation to be made against Beijing.

The findings follow reports from groups including the American Energy Institute, Bitcoin Policy Institute and Power the Future raising similar questions about foreign money, advocacy networks and campaigns opposing American data centers. Taken together, these reports suggest that foreign actors may view opposition to data center development as an opportunity to weaken America’s position in the race for AI dominance. They also highlight potential vulnerabilities serious enough to merit further investigation.

While America debates whether to build, China is moving. Beijing is reportedly considering a nearly $300 billion plan to connect data centers across the country into a national computing grid, with broader estimates rising to nearly $740 billion when related energy infrastructure is included. China reportedly wants most of the underlying technology to come from domestic suppliers, further solidifying their position.

The contrast should alarm us. China is pursuing a national strategy for data center construction while America risks allowing its AI future to be decided one zoning dispute at a time.

That does not mean every data center belongs in every community. Nor does it mean that concerns raised by residents about electricity, water and land use do not deserve serious answers. But each proposal should be evaluated on facts rather than alarmism, particularly when foreign adversaries may be attempting to amplify such fears for their own strategic advantage.

Water concerns, for example, vary significantly by location and cooling technology. In Virginia -- which accounts for more than a tenth of global data center capacity -- the state’s nonpartisan legislative watchdog found that current data center water use was sustainable, although growing demand required better planning and reporting. That is an argument for smart standards and careful oversight, not blanket bans.

Electricity should also be viewed as more than a constraint. Data centers can be paired with on-site generation and storage to create microgrids that reduce their reliance on existing generation and transmission capacity. By bringing new power generation online alongside these facilities, this approach can help ensure that existing customers are not forced to subsidize the electricity infrastructure required by the data center buildout.

There are also broader opportunities associated with this model that should not be overlooked. Electricity generated beyond what a data center needs could potentially be sold back to the wider grid. Storage and flexible computing loads could help further relieve pressure during periods of peak demand. Under the right market rules, infrastructure built to power AI could even become more than self-sufficient. It could strengthen grid resilience and help place downward pressure on electricity costs.

That is precisely why distorted narratives about data centers can be so strategically damaging. If communities are led to believe that every project will inevitably drain their water, overwhelm the grid and raise their utility bills, America may reject investments capable of addressing the very challenges opponents cite. China would gain an advantage not because it built better technology, but because it succeeded in convincing Americans not to build the infrastructure needed to compete.

Fortunately, Congress has taken a welcome first step to addressing these threats. Leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee recently requested a briefing from the FBI and the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology regarding possible foreign influence targeting data center development. Congress should follow up with hearings to determine the scope of any influence operations and identify vulnerabilities in local and national decision-making that foreign adversaries could exploit.

China understands that AI dominance will rest not just on innovation but on the physical infrastructure necessary to power the AI age. Beijing is moving rapidly to build that foundation and America must expose any foreign efforts to obstruct ours.