China is fueling America's data center rage
axios.com
axios.com
this is a news story reported as unambiguous fact, but only based on claims from a single source.
and that single source has a pretty strong motivation for why they might lie or exaggerate the claims - X runs AI data centers and is facing criticism over them. it's in their interest to be able to portray that opposition as astroturfed by foreign interests.
a) China is fueling US data center rage, or
b) China is not fueling US data center rage
So fun seeing Americans blame Russia for their issues with racism and China for their issues of bad infrastructure. As if both didn't predate the founding of those countries.
No. That’s a silly opening statement and not a logical conclusion or assertion of the article’s reporting.
The billionaire fascists are lying
The billionaire fascists aren’t lying
I’m convinced many of the highly energetic opposition movements is foreign-born. Particularly those that are relatively spontaneous and nonsensically partisan.
> Roughly 200 accounts from a suspected Chinese bot farm have quietly tried to influence Americans to oppose AI data centers on social media, X said Thursday night.
——
> The X Safety team conducted an investigation into suspected Chinese inauthentic accounts involved in influence operations:
> We identified a bot farm of approximately 200,000 accounts. Within this farm, we found 200 accounts posting in a manner that could manipulate a legitimate debate about American AI and energy policy.
> These posts contained claims that AI data centers are driving up household electricity prices and straining the grid. Others included AI-generated cartoons that depicted data-center operators enriching themselves at the public's expense.
> We remain committed to maintaining an open and authentic platform where people debate topics of public interest. We take seriously any attempts to undermine the integrity of the global town square and suspend accounts that violate our Authenticity policy.
—-
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says China isn't behind the anti-data-center debate - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49492188 - August 2026
Politicians Who Once Championed Data Centers Are Now Bashing Them - https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/politicians-who-once-cha... - August 20th, 2026
a) China is fueling US data center rage, or
b) China is not fueling US data center rage
I do not get paid to campaign against data centers, and continue to do so at my own expense. There is no evidence “winning” an “AI race” would be meaningful against another nation state, except to those who would stand to benefit economically, either from long term cash flows or the short term capital investment bubble.
The folks ignoring the externalities of the US data center buildout in relation to the AI investment capital bubble are hopeless in this regard, I have no doubt they cannot be convinced otherwise. Like a religion, their beliefs and mental model are fixed. And so policy restricting data centers, temporary or permanent, is the only path to success. Federal, state, local, whatever can get enacted, as long as it takes until the capital bubble pops.
Evidence or not: the US and China are racing as if the AI leader will lead the world for the next 100 or 1000 years.
I’m sure you’d agree.
Humans are irrational, from your lowly NPC all the way up to heads of state. Why did the US attack Iran? Because Netanyahu took advantage of a low functioning narcissist in a position of power. Only one example, there are many.
I don’t know what tangent you’ve now chosen to ride! Bon voyage!