Support for data centers is collapsing among American voters, and the industry鈥檚 backers are increasingly blaming China for that shift, according to a new analysis by Wired. Polling cited by the report shows 75 percent of Americans now oppose a data center in their area, up from 42 percent last year. Politicians from both parties, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, have started taking a harder line as the midterms approach, even as President Donald Trump vigorously supports construction.
In late August, X announced it had found 200 accounts linked to China that were spreading anti-data center messages on its platform, triggering alarmist coverage and amplification by data center-friendly politicians and right-wing figures. Trump echoed that view, posting on Truth Social that China was happy with the anti-data center movement. Earlier this year, right-wing policy reports and an OpenAI crackdown on accounts linked to the Chinese government pointed to similar influence efforts, with OpenAI saying the accounts were testing narratives against AI infrastructure.
China experts and social media analysts, however, say the evidence for a foreign influence campaign is thin. Graphika, a social media analytics firm, told Wired that most opposition it has tracked is homegrown, and its vice president of intelligence, Tyler Williams, said there is still little evidence of significant foreign intervention. Wired also noted that the 200 X accounts are a small subset of a larger bot farm of 200,000 accounts, and that the purported influence operation often appears to exploit existing discontent rather than create it.
Blogger Andy Masley, whose pro-data center blog is funded by a grant from Coefficient Giving, said the China theory is a convenient belief for tech boosters. Masley, a self-described Democrat, said he has publicly asked for insider information about Chinese intervention and has not received anything solid. He observed that right-wing audiences appear to respond well to China-focused rhetoric, which he suspects is why the narrative is pushed.
Wired鈥檚 resident China expert, Louise Matsakis, said the panic reflects a basic misunderstanding of how Chinese influence operations actually work. She explained that Americans often prefer blaming a nebulous other over self-examination, and that the right has a long history of scapegoating China for domestic problems. Her take aligns with the broader skepticism that the anti-data center movement is foreign-born rather than a response to environmental concerns, political dynamics, or resistance to AI.
The report also touched on labor implications, citing Wired colleague Paresh Dave鈥檚 findings about Meta鈥檚 push to build a robot workforce in data centers. Dave noted that some data centers have full kitchens and staff, but as automation reduces technical jobs, operators could also cut costs on food, janitorial services, and other roles. That would mean additional job losses beyond the technical positions already being automated, adding another layer to the domestic opposition that the China narrative fails to address.
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