Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says China isn't behind the anti-data-center debate

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott isn't buying the Chinese psy-op theory.

In a Fox News question and reply connected Friday, the Texas politician pushed backmost against the conception that China is influencing the information halfway statement successful the United States.

"I haven't done it because of thing said by China, I've done it by listening to and moving pinch constituents and seeing existent problems they're facing successful their communities," Abbott said of his recent moratorium connected information halfway building successful Texas.

"None of that has thing to do pinch China," he added.

X said connected Thursday that it uncovered a 200,000-strong Chinese bot workplace and that a mates 100 of those accounts posted disparaging content astir information centers "in a mode that could manipulate a morganatic statement astir American AI and power policy."

The disclosure prompted a caller activity of I-told-you-sos from the members of the tech industry, who opportunity immense numbers of Americans are being duped by cheap, AI-produced Chinese propaganda, and that anti-data-center sentiment successful the United States was, arsenic a result, illegitimate.

What X didn't disclose, said Darren Linvill, a interrogator astatine Clemson University, is that galore of those bots had zero engagement and were apt quickly deactivated by X earlier they could garner a following.

On Fox News connected Friday, big Will Cain raised X's disclosure and asked Abbott whether "real concerns" astir information centers successful the United States were "being driven by China."

Abbott said that China is surely attempting to power data halfway sentiment, but added that his caller pivot against the compute factories was the consequence of morganatic concerns raised by Texans successful communities wherever they're being built.

"We cognize what the powerfulness request was going to beryllium for the authorities of Texas, which was 5 times the existent expertise to supply power," Abbot said.

Once a staunch protagonist of information halfway building successful Texas, Abbott has precocious pivoted.

Abbott introduced caller standards for AI information halfway projects successful Texas, including directing the state's inferior committee and grid usability to protect residents from associated infrastructure costs. He besides suggested a prohibition connected information halfway improvement successful agrarian Texas and said that projects must acquisition an audit earlier moving forward.

Abbott said earlier this period that his management had halted immoderate 1,800 AI information halfway projects successful the state.

AI information centers are an existential rumor for AI companies for illustration OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, which trust connected them to powerfulness their products.

All crossed the country, however, Americans are rallying to fight against AI information centers, which tin costs billions to build and span hundreds of acres. Many are concerned astir really the sprawling accommodation will impact the environment, inferior prices, h2o resources, and sound levels. Some conscionable don't for illustration AI.

The effectiveness of immoderate Chinese campaign, which has been pushed by right-wing commentators, tech bros, and Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary, who is processing a information halfway successful Utah, was disputed by respective researchers who study misinformation campaigns.

Samuel Woolley, a interrogator astatine the University of Pittsburgh, said the only reports he's seen astir Chinese AI information halfway propaganda person travel straight from Big Tech companies, which he said person a "vested interest" successful information halfway improvement successful the United States. X is owned by Elon Musk, whose companies request AI information centers to survive.

"We person to return investigation that's perchance governmental pinch a pinch of salt," he said.