China ‘throwing gasoline on the fire’ in AI data centers race, say lawmakers

Two House Republicans are pressing the Trump administration to scrutinize whether nonprofits fighting the expansion of U.S. artificial intelligence data centers are being bankrolled by China as part of an effort to slow American AI development. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith of Missouri and Representative John Moolenaar of Michigan, who leads a House panel focused on countering the Chinese Communist Party, sent a letter Tuesday to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank Bisignano asking them to examine the tax-exempt status of groups receiving foreign funding for this purpose. The request comes as President Donald Trump prepares to discuss AI policy with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to Fox News.

The lawmakers point to Neville Roy Singham, an American-born tech entrepreneur with communist sympathies, who has directed hundreds of millions of dollars to organizations now leading resistance to data center construction nationwide. Among the recipients are the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the ANSWER Coalition, two groups the letter characterizes as aligned with Beijing and communist ideology. Earlier this month, members of those organizations joined a demonstration at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill that mixed opposition to data centers and AI expansion with pro-Cuba messaging and criticism of Trump, including signs reading "SHUT IT DOWN!"

In their letter, Smith and Moolenaar warned against letting a geopolitical rival "weaponize our own tax code and harm an emerging American industry."

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →