The AI Data Center Backlash
Paul Gigot, Kim Strassel, Allyssia Finley, and Jason Riley discuss the growing progressive backlash against AI data centers. Citing environmental concerns, rising electricity prices, and potential job displacement, Bernie Sanders and AOC introduced legislation for a nationwide moratorium on building new data centers. The panel explores the economic implications and highlights the lack of clear evidence supporting claims of increased energy costs directly related to data centers.
NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
A grassroots organizer opposing the development of AI data centers in Virginia is also a member of the Party of Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a Marxist-Leninist group that has come under scrutiny for its political ties and overlap with a China-linked network, digital records show.
Jack Tensley, who described himself as an “organizer” of the PSL, testified before the Frederick County Planning Commission in January, raising concerns about the plans' cost, energy use and liability.
“My big fear here is the security risk. We have attacks and infrastructure failures, cyberattacks happen; I want to know if this puts a target on Frederick County's back,” Tensley said. “I see a lot of risk here.”
In addition to his many concerns, Tensley's testimony, taken in light of his connection to PSL and, by extension, the China-based Singham network, is emblematic of broader questions about data center expansion. As the United States races to build the infrastructure needed to advance artificial intelligence, community fights over zoning and electricity have raised concerns that larger political groups are attempting to amplify opposition to America's artificial intelligence infrastructure through local influence campaigns.
TOP ENERGY GROUP WARNS RICH FOREIGNERS ARE POTENTIALLY Financing Anti-Data Center Campaigns Across the United States
Jack Tensley speaks at a Frederick County, Virginia, planning commission meeting. (Frederick County, Virginia)
The PSL, in particular, has come under scrutiny.
The group describes itself as a political party that organizes around anti-war, labor immigration and socialist causes, according to its website.
“The Party for Socialism and Liberation exists to carry out the fight for socialism within the United States,” the PSL states. “Capitalism is a failed system that, in its insatiable appetite for ever-increasing profits, threatens global ecological destruction.”
The Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI), a nonpartisan cryptocurrency think tank, found that PSL has organized anti-data center campaigns in at least 14 states, opposing approximately $23.6 billion in AI investments.
But more than that, BPI highlighted ties to Shanghai-based businessman Neville Roy Singham, citing overlapping leadership between PSL and several nonprofits Singham has funded. Singham, 72, has faced congressional scrutiny for his alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Singham sold his technology company for $800 million in 2017 and now lives in Shanghai. He has been accused of funding pro-Chinese Communist Party groups operating in the U.S. In the past, he has funneled $278 million to the vast network of nonprofits since 2017, according to a Fox News Digital investigation. These groups regularly organize and participate in anti-ICE, anti-Israel, and pro-Iran demonstrations.
Some lawmakers, such as Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., have called on the Justice Department to investigate the network.
LAWYERS RAISE THE ALARM OVER NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM'S $278 MILLION NETWORK WHICH SPREAD CCP PROPAGANDA IN THE US
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., argued that the war with Iran would continue for weeks, not days, as the United States continues to chip away at its offensive capabilities. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Alarming reports indicate that a network of foreign actors, led by the Chinese Communist Party, is attempting to manipulate U.S. policy and public opinion over data centers,” Cotton wrote in a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“Among them is a network of American nonprofits funded by Neville Roy Singham, a Shanghai-based American expatriate under scrutiny by the American government for his ties to Chinese communists.”
Although they share staff, it is unclear whether Singham directly funds the PSL.
Taken together, the Bitcoin Policy Institute criticized the PSL as a political arm for opposition to data centers.
“The PSL serves as the movement's playground: providing rallies, petitions, public hearings for local candidates, and the neighborhood organizing needed to stop projects on the ground,” BPI wrote.
For her own party, Tensley has also come under scrutiny for her online digital footprint. In addition to his support of the PSL, he has also donated to political figures such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., contributing $172 to his 2020 presidential campaign, according to FEC records.
Meanwhile, he continues to oppose Frederick County's data center plans, an opposition that, in recent months, appears to have been successful.
He is affiliated with Protect Frederick County from Data Center Development and signed their petition to the county board of supervisors to reject the development plans.
FIRST ON FOX: HOUSE'S POWERFUL MEANS AND WAYS PRESIDENT THROWS HAMMER AT 'FOREIGN ALIGNED INFLUENCE NETWORK'
Cecilia M. With the group Party for Socialism and Liberation, she joins Rotesters who arrived at Los Angeles City Hall on Friday, January 30, 2026 as part of a nationwide day of action to stop ICE funding and the shooting deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
In June, the board voted 10-0 to recommend denial of a 220-acre development in Clearbook, Virginia. Similarly, the board voted 7-1 to reject a second 71.8-acre project in Winchester.
Fox News Digital repeatedly contacted Tensley for comment.
Preston Mizell contributed to this report.
