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House Speaker Johnson Calls Data Center Opposition a 'Chinese Psyop
Confirmed
In Short: House Speaker Mike Johnson called opposition to AI data centers a 'Chinese psyop' during an interview on Fox News, repeating the claim on Monday.
Johnson said, 'We do not need a moratorium. We do not need to hyper-regulate this because we’ll lose the race to China,' emphasizing his belief that foreign influence is driving the opposition.
The progressive senator Bernie Sanders, who has led efforts to impose a nationwide moratorium on new large-scale data centers, criticized Johnson's comments on social media.
Polls and grassroots campaigns across the country have revealed a significant groundswell of opposition to data centers.
Tech firms have reported rooting out and banning bot-run Chinese accounts that spread anti-data center sentiment, but the impact of these campaigns remains unclear.
What's confirmed
- “It is a Chinese psyop, I really believe that. That’s not a conspiracy theory,” said Johnson.
- “No, Mr. Johnson,” said the progressive senator, who’s previously been accused on Fox News of working with China to harm the AI industry.
- While some influence campaigns from Russia and China have pushed negative messaging about AI data centers, one former official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told the New York Times in July that foreign countries are not “manufacturing” outrage about AI in the US, which has been made clear as communities have rallied to block nearly 120 projects worth $198 billion, according to Data Center Watch.
- On Fox News, Johnson repeated a comment he made after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said the development of AI should be “paced” as companies have found that their models are able to hack websites without being directed to and are capable of “recursive self-improvement,” or creating the next generation of AI on their own.
- At the time, the House speaker said the industry should be able to regulate itself, lest China “overlap us” on AI development.
- “We do not need a moratorium. We do not need to jump in and hyper-regulate this because we’ll lose the race to China,” Johnson said Monday.
- AI companies have “dismissed the concerns of people” and have “tried to buy and sell politicians to try to get around persuading people that they might want these data centers in their communities,” he said.
- Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has led efforts to pass bills imposing a nationwide moratorium on new large-scale data centers and a ban on artificial superintelligence, seized on Johnson’s comments Tuesday.
- The host said some tech executives and lawmakers claim China is spreading negative information about data centers.
- On Fox Business, Johnson was asked how he plans to respond to Democrats using concerns about data centers against Republicans in the midterm elections.
What's still developing
- The Center Square reached out to Johnson’s communications team and they referred us back to his remarks immediately following the comment, saying he had explained his answer.
- “The community concerns are important,” Johnson said in those remarks.
- Johnson said the companies that go in to build AI infrastructure need to meet with the community and make sure that you have rate payer, payer protection pledge in place and all of that.
- He said Congress passed the Rate Payer Protection Act, which codified President Donald Trump’s provision that says if a developer goes in and builds data centers that they need to ensure to the local community that they’ll be good corporate partners.
- Johnson referred to opposition to data centers as a “Chinese psyop” during an interview Monday, while also saying developers must earn communities’ trust and address concerns about utility rates and water resources.
- Polls repeatedly find that the vast majority of Americans say in surveys that they oppose the construction of a data center in their community, and the very concept of them is extremely unpopular, even among Republican voters.
- A New York Times /Siena University poll conducted earlier this month, for instance, found that 61 percent of voters oppose the construction of AI-supporting data centers in the U.S. entirely, including 40 percent who said they “strongly oppose” the idea.
- Last month, X said that it found 200 Chinese anti-data center accounts — on a platform with more than 500 million monthly active users, according to owner Elon Musk.
- Meanwhile, OpenAI said in June that it banned a set of Chinese accounts that were highlighting harms of data centers to local communities, but admitted that the campaign didn’t gain much traction.
- “No, Mr. Johnson. The 75 percent of Americans who oppose data centers, including a majority of Republicans, have not fallen victim to a ‘Chinese psyop,’” said Sanders on social media on Tuesday.
- “This is not a conspiracy theory,” the House speaker added.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has dismissed popular concerns among the American public over Big Tech’s hastened buildout of data centers across the U.S.