Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton has called on the Justice Department to launch a federal investigation into what he describes as a covert Chinese-backed campaign aimed at undermining America’s artificial intelligence infrastructure. In a letter addressed to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Republican lawmaker argues that foreign actors are attempting to manipulate U.S. public opinion and policy against data center construction and AI development. The request comes as Washington and Beijing compete fiercely for global dominance in artificial intelligence technology. Cotton emphasized that Americans should determine their technological future free from communist propaganda. He stated that the reason behind China’s alleged interference is clear: Beijing wants to cripple American processing power to win the AI race.
The senator’s appeal follows a detailed report published last week by the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank. The report alleges that Chinese state media, foreign-funded advocacy organizations, and a network of groups financed by American tech entrepreneur Neville Roy Singham have spent years building opposition to U.S. data center construction and AI infrastructure projects. Singham, a self-proclaimed Marxist who founded the Chicago-based company Thoughtworks and sold it in 2017, now resides in Shanghai. He has become an increasing focus of congressional scrutiny and federal investigations. His financial network has reportedly channeled $278 million into various nonprofits that oppose AI development, semiconductor export controls, and large-scale technology projects across the United States.
Singham network organizations lead anti-technology campaigns
Multiple 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations connected to the Singham network have participated in and led campaigns opposing American technological advancement. These groups include CodePink, the People’s Forum, Tricontinental, and BreakThrough News. Singham began directing substantial funding into these organizations following his 2017 marriage to Jodie Evans, co-founder of CodePink. For years, these Singham-funded entities have collaborated closely with two self-described communist organizations in the United States. The ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation have organized activists to protest major American technology, defense, and logistics companies. Target corporations have included Palantir Technologies, Lockheed-Martin, and Google. The protests attempt to shame these firms for conducting business with the U.S. government on issues ranging from immigration to global geopolitics where China maintains significant interests, including Israel, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, South Korea, and Greenland.
Pro-China protesters have seized upon high electrical costs associated with operating data centers as a key mobilization issue. Rising electricity bills that consumers have experienced in recent months have become one of the central themes of these new protest movements. Earlier this year, Cotton introduced legislation called the DATA Act of 2026, designed to lift regulatory controls and allow manufacturers, data centers, and other energy-intensive industries to build new electricity systems separate from the consumer electrical grid. Senate and House lawmakers have launched inquiries into the nonprofits within the Singham network, questioning whether these groups should be required to register as foreign agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. FARA requires entities or individuals working for the interests of foreign powers to register with the Justice Department as foreign lobbyists.
Strategic implications for American artificial intelligence leadership
Cotton emphasized in his letter that America’s position in artificial intelligence carries sweeping implications for the nation’s economic strength, military capabilities, diplomatic influence, and national security. He warned that foreign adversaries should not be allowed to exploit public concerns over energy use, utility costs, and water consumption to slow U.S. technological development. The Bitcoin Policy Institute report, titled “Foreign Influence in the Campaign Against American AI,” alleges that three separate streams of influence have increasingly aligned around efforts to block or delay new AI-related infrastructure in the United States. These streams include Chinese state media, the Singham network, and foreign-funded advocacy organizations. The report argues that the Singham network has spent nearly five years producing parallel domestic content opposing U.S. AI infrastructure, AI laboratories, and AI export controls.
According to the analysis, the campaign against American AI infrastructure creates a strategic advantage for Beijing precisely when China is aggressively investing in its own artificial intelligence capabilities. The report highlights a striking contradiction in Chinese policy. While Beijing’s state media warns American audiences that data centers are environmentally and economically dangerous, the Chinese state subsidizes up to half of the energy costs for its own AI data center operators. This creates an uneven playing field where Chinese AI development receives government support while American projects face organized opposition. The issue has become increasingly prominent as policymakers, investors, and technology leaders warn that the United States risks falling behind China if it fails to rapidly expand the computing infrastructure needed to power next-generation AI systems.
Climate activists and political figures participate in opposition efforts
Climate activists, anti-Israel protesters, and other activist movements with vastly different agendas have formed an unusual coalition united by shared opposition to American technological advancement and funding allegedly connected to China. Experts describe this phenomenon as a “red-green-green alliance,” representing an ideological overlap between three elements. The alliance combines communist movements characterized by the color red, Islamist activism described as green, and environmental protest groups symbolized as green. Following their wedding in early 2017, Singham and Evans transformed far-left protests in the United States, creating what observers describe as a coordinated machine. This network sounds alarms for new protests from clear command-and-control centers, produces pre-printed protest signs, shares common messaging, and galvanizes around themes that support China while condemning what protesters call “AmeriKKKa” as an imperialist nation, borrowing rhetoric from Russian and Chinese propaganda.
Earlier this year, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both leaders in Democratic Socialists of America, organized an event focused on what they described as the existential threat of artificial intelligence. The event featured speakers closely affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, including Zeng Yi of the Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance and Xue Lan, a counselor to China’s State Council and chairman of China’s national AI governance committee. Cotton noted in his letter that Lan is affiliated with Tsinghua University, an institution frequently scrutinized by U.S. officials because of its role in China’s military-civil fusion strategy. Last fall, during a conference of the Global South Academic Forum, Singham publicly praised the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s global campaign for what he described as a new world order.
American business leaders warn about falling behind in AI race
The broader concern raised by Cotton and others centers on the possibility that pro-China campaigns opposing U.S. AI infrastructure advance narratives that ultimately benefit Beijing as the United States and China battle for technological and economic supremacy. Billionaire investor Kevin O’Leary has become one of the most vocal advocates for expanded AI infrastructure. O’Leary argues that data centers, power generation, and advanced computing capacity now represent strategic assets in the global competition for artificial intelligence leadership. He has warned that China is gaining ground in the AI race while regulatory roadblocks stall American progress. The competition between the two nations extends beyond commercial applications to include military systems, economic forecasting, cybersecurity, and diplomatic leverage. Cotton’s call for a Justice Department investigation reflects growing concern among lawmakers that foreign influence operations are successfully shaping American public discourse on critical technology policy. The investigation, if launched, would examine whether coordinated campaigns violate laws governing foreign agent registration and attempt to determine the extent of Chinese government involvement in opposition to American AI development.
