Republicans are leaning into a new theory of the data center revolt sweeping American towns: that Beijing, not local frustration, is driving it.

The argument reached Washington this month in a letter from House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., who called for an FBI briefing on what he described as a foreign effort to slow the U.S. artificial intelligence buildout. The claim gained traction after an OpenAI threat report identified China-linked accounts that promoted anti-data center content on U.S. social media.

Skeptics, including conservative China hawks, say the framing risks dismissing genuine voter anger over electricity bills ahead of the midterms.

Guthrie, joined by Republican Reps. John Joyce of Pennsylvania and Bob Latta of Ohio, sent the June 4 letter to FBI Director Kash Patel and the co-chairs of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

The lawmakers wrote that evidence "strongly suggests" foreign influence campaigns are targeting U.S. AI development, citing reports from the Bitcoin Policy Institute and Power the Future that trace funding streams running through nonprofits opposing the buildout.

The letter sets a Thursday deadline for a briefing.

OpenAI gave the theory new fuel days later.

Its June 10 threat report disclosed two clusters of banned accounts, likely operating from China, that used ChatGPT to generate cartoons and English-language posts blaming AI data centers for rising household electricity costs.

The company dubbed the main operation "Data Center Bandwagon" and linked it to a Chinese tech contractor serving provincial government clients. OpenAI rated the campaign's reach as the lowest category on its breakout scale, with most posts drawing no engagement.

Trump administration officials have run with the message.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox Business on May 26 that communities seeking to build data centers are being targeted by foreign-directed propaganda campaigns intended to block the projects. Billionaire investor Kevin O'Leary made similar claims after protests targeting his proposed 40,000-acre Utah data center, though neither offered direct evidence of Chinese funding.

The strategy carries political risk.

Public opposition to AI infrastructure has hardened across red and blue states, with local moratoriums spreading from Virginia to Utah.

Ryan Fedasiuk, an American Enterprise Institute fellow who studies Chinese influence, warned the framing could backfire.

Telling Americans their concerns over electric bills and water use were "paid for by the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]" is "not a winning political message," he wrote in a post on X, even as he acknowledged Chinese-backed propaganda targeting the buildout is real.

The FBI has not publicly responded.

President Donald Trump continues to push federal agencies to fast-track grid connections and trim environmental reviews for AI projects as state and local officials weigh whether to slow or block new builds.