Sen Tom Cotton urges DOJ probe Chinese influence on US AI

Fox News reported that Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on June 9 requesting a Department of Justice probe into what Cotton described as a covert campaign linked to China that targets U.S. data centers and AI infrastructure (Fox News). The letter uses the phrase "kneecap our processing power" and includes direct quotes from Cotton: "Recent reports show that Communist China is attempting to influence our policy and public opinion on data centers" and "Americans should decide their own future free of communist propaganda" (Fox News).

KuCoin and Fox News report that the letter draws heavily on a May 18 report from the Bitcoin Policy Institute, which the letter cites as identifying three influence vectors: Chinese state media, allied U.S. nonprofits, and foreign-backed networks (KuCoin; Fox News). Commstrader and Fox News identify Neville Roy Singham and activist Jodie Evans as named figures within the networks the reporting links to the influence campaign (Commstrader; Fox News).

The public coverage focuses on political influence activity and siting opposition to data centers, not on specific technical vulnerabilities of AI models. KuCoin and Fox News note that the Bitcoin Policy Institute frames part of the campaign around narratives about data-center energy use and local electricity prices, arguments that can affect permitting and community acceptance for large compute facilities (KuCoin; Fox News). The coverage also connects shifts in energy economics to strategic advantages for state-subsidized AI deployment in China, per the Bitcoin Policy Institute as cited by KuCoin (KuCoin).

Campaigns that foreground environmental or grid-impact concerns have influenced data-center siting and permitting in multiple jurisdictions, affecting where large-scale GPU farms and related infrastructure can be built. For practitioners: prolonged community opposition or regulatory delays can materially raise deployment timelines and hosting costs for AI workloads, even when arguments are framed as local environmental or economic issues rather than as explicit geopolitical maneuvers.

Editorial analysis: The story is situated at the intersection of national security, energy policy, and infrastructure deployment. Observers following the sector will watch how a DOJ inquiry, if opened, treats allegations of coordinated foreign influence under statutes such as the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and whether regulators or local permitting authorities change enforcement or disclosure requirements tied to foreign funding of advocacy groups.

• •Whether the DOJ acknowledges receipt of Cotton's letter and opens a formal inquiry, as reported by Fox News.
• •Any follow-up reporting from the Bitcoin Policy Institute that provides new evidence on funding flows or messaging amplification (KuCoin; Fox News).
• •Local permitting decisions or legislative moves addressing data-center siting or energy allocation where the influence narratives under dispute have been active.