U.S. officials blame China for fueling data center protests, but experts and social media analysts say domestic opposition is the real driver—with foreign actors merely amplifying existing concerns.

What happened

Right-wing officials and data center investors have claimed that Chinese government funding is behind U.S. protests against data centers. OpenAI released a report Wednesday describing Chinese accounts spreading anti-data center messages online. However, Graphika, a social media analytics company tracking the issue for a year, says it has "not yet seen evidence of organized or scaled influence operations or campaigns that can be traced back to a foreign actor," with only two minor exceptions: a network using AI-generated avatars that occasionally mentions U.S. tech companies, and some Facebook pages with Bangladesh-based administrators appearing to exist "for monetization purposes." OpenAI itself found "no evidence of meaningful breakout" of anti-data center messaging from the accounts it flagged.

What to watch

OpenAI notes that the targeting of U.S. data center buildouts "shows PRC-origin influence operators testing narratives against AI infrastructure," suggesting foreign actors may be monitoring the space even if they have not yet shifted public opinion. Chan cautioned to "be cautious in estimating the impact of these efforts before seeing more evidence, but it is something worth tracking."