Artificial Intelligence: Foreign adversaries are fueling anti-data center psyops

The 'psyop' allegations

Ever wonder why there’s so much sudden, heated energy against local data centers? According to Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering, it’s not just grassroots concern—it’s a calculated “psyop” (psychological operation) pushed by foreign adversaries.

In a recent interview with Fox News Digital at the White House, Michael argued that because foreign powers want to stop the U.S. from developing “super intelligence” ahead of them, they are working to turn the American public against the infrastructure that makes it possible. As Michael put it, “It is natural from a propaganda standpoint that your adversary... is going to try to psyop your population into believing that.”

Following the money

This follows reports of massive funding streams linked to Neville Roy Singham, an American tech tycoon living in Shanghai. Investigations show Singham has funneled over $278 million since 2017 into various nonprofits, including groups like the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the ANSWER Coalition. These organizations have been front-and-center in protests against data centers across the U.S., often carrying signage that blends anti-AI messaging with pro-communist stances. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, compared this to how foreign entities previously bankrolled anti-fracking movements to keep U.S. energy prices reliant on them.

Why it matters

Under Secretary Michael emphasized that data centers are essentially the “electricity that fuels the superintelligence revolution.” The Department of War is leaning hard into AI, with usage jumping from 70,000 users to 1.7 million under Secretary Pete Hegseth. The tech is being used to streamline everything from enterprise operations to warfighting and intelligence, reportedly cutting 200-hour work tasks down to two.

For you, this means the fight over data centers is officially part of the 2026 midterm discourse. Whether the opposition is organic or foreign-backed is the new main character energy of the political debate, and it will likely define how fast your local community gets integrated into the nationwide AI build-out. If the U.S. falls behind in infrastructure, the government warns, we lose the global race to a major adversary.