Cruz warns Chinese influence campaign threatens US AI leadership and data center growth

Senator Ted Cruz, who leads the Senate Commerce Committee, warned that a well-funded, coordinated campaign—potentially backed by China—is driving opposition to data centers in the United States, echoing earlier foreign-sponsored anti-fracking efforts. He pointed to OpenAI’s June action that disabled two clusters of ChatGPT accounts thought to originate from China and to be spreading claims that data centers raise electricity costs.

Cruz framed the competition with China over artificial intelligence as “the single most important economic question” for America, asserting that a Chinese victory would embed the Communist Party’s values of surveillance and propaganda in AI, whereas a U.S. win would safeguard free speech, individualism, and privacy. He accused Democrats of aligning with large tech firms and the “effective altruism” ideology, which he said seeks to use AI to push left-leaning policies, and described this as a rent-seeking strategy. The critique also referenced Parker Thayer’s labeling of effective altruism as part of an “AI doomerism” movement, and noted that philanthropists Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna, through Coefficient Giving, have pledged substantial funding for AI safety and policy advocacy.