Senator Tom Cotton is asking the Department of Justice to look into what he describes as a covert Chinese campaign designed to “kneecap” America’s artificial intelligence infrastructure. The Arkansas Republican sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on June 9, calling for a formal investigation into foreign actors allegedly working to shape US public opinion against data centers and AI development.
The case Cotton is building
Cotton’s letter points to what he sees as a coordinated effort by the Chinese Communist Party to undermine the expansion of US data centers. The core allegation: Beijing is financing or encouraging campaigns that criticize American data centers for their energy consumption and environmental impact, all while subsidizing its own AI operators’ electricity costs by up to 50%.
The senator’s case draws heavily on a report published by the Bitcoin Policy Institute on May 18, which identified three distinct vectors of influence: Chinese state media, allied US nonprofits, and foreign billionaires. According to the report, Chinese state media outlets have amplified narratives about US data centers driving up electricity prices for ordinary Americans.
This isn’t Cotton’s first move in this space. He previously sponsored the DATA Act of 2026, legislation designed to promote independent power infrastructure for data centers, essentially enabling them to go off-grid and sidestep the energy debates entirely. In May, Cotton and Senator Jim Banks also pressed intelligence officials to more closely track Chinese AI capabilities and operations.
