Someone in China decided the best way to slow down American AI dominance was to make Americans hate their own data centers. It didn’t really work, but the attempt itself tells you everything about where the US-China tech rivalry is headed.
OpenAI published a threat report on June 10 detailing what it calls the “Data Center Bandwagon,” a suspected influence operation linked to the People’s Republic of China that used ChatGPT accounts to generate social media content designed to provoke opposition to US data center development. The company traced the accounts back to a private Chinese tech firm reportedly operating under contract with provincial governments.
How the operation worked
The mechanics were straightforward, if a bit ironic. Operators prompted ChatGPT in Simplified Chinese, instructing it to produce anti-data center content in both English and Chinese. They then attempted to distribute this content across platforms like X and YouTube, masquerading as American voices concerned about rising electricity costs tied to AI infrastructure.
The campaign’s core strategy was to amplify existing anxieties about energy consumption. Data centers are power-hungry beasts, and communities across the US have raised legitimate concerns about their impact on local electricity grids and costs. The operation didn’t invent these worries. It tried to pour gasoline on a fire that was already smoldering.
