OpenAI recently stated in a threat report that some user accounts associated with China have used ChatGPT to generate content in an attempt to influence the American public's views on local data centers and related technology policies, but these activities have had little or no significant effect. The report pointed out that these banned accounts were covertly engaged in "influence operations" that aimed to manipulate the public debate surrounding U.S. artificial intelligence and broader technology policy by creating and spreading specific narratives.
According to the report, the first batch of identified accounts generated a large number of social media comments and graphic content around the statement that "data center expansion will push up ordinary household electricity bills." OpenAI named this operation "Data Center Bandwagon". From the end of 2025 to the beginning of 2026, these accounts repeatedly prompted ChatGPT to write short comments and picture copy in English about the increase in electricity demand for data centers and AI applications, resulting in rising electricity bills for ordinary Americans. Relevant content ranges from data center-themed cartoons to text overlaid on General Electric marketing images suggesting that U.S. citizens are "paying" for AI infrastructure.
The text and images generated by ChatGPT are then posted on multiple social platforms, with publisher accounts often disguised as Americans from various backgrounds to enhance the "localization" and credibility of the content. OpenAI said that its model itself is not open to access within China, so the relevant operators are believed to have bypassed geographical restrictions through VPN. The company determined that these accounts are likely to belong to the social media operations team of a local Chinese private technology company, providing public opinion influence services to provincial government clients. The operators also uploaded a report to ChatGPT detailing their goals and tactics to influence public opinion, including how to create social accounts that could more easily evade the platform’s risk control systems.
In addition to "Data Center Tailwind," OpenAI also identified a second cluster of accounts that also used ChatGPT to generate content, but the topic shifted to criticize U.S. tariff policies and technology policies. These contents generally revolve around the technological competition between China and the United States, accusing the United States of pursuing technological dominance and "rule-making power" on the one hand, and "secretly harming allies" on the other. Interestingly, these accounts specifically stated when prompting ChatGPT that the name of Chinese leader Xi Jinping should not appear in the generated content.
When assessing the impact of the above actions, OpenAI concluded that these activities caused little splash in the online public opinion field. However, as far as the data center issue itself is concerned, domestic public opinion in the United States is already highly divided and has even increasingly turned against new facilities. A recent report cited by OpenAI shows that 71% of Americans now oppose the construction of data centers near where they live, up from 42% nine months ago. In the section on electricity prices, the report refers to the statements made by relevant accounts as "claimed," but third-party data shows that the increase in electricity prices around the data center is indeed true. A previous analysis by Bloomberg showed that in some areas close to data centers, electricity prices increased by as much as 267%.
In the domestic political context of the United States, some skeptics believe that, as one of the main promoters of the artificial intelligence boom, OpenAI has the motivation to partially package the intensifying anti-data center sentiment as the result of "foreign power manipulation" to reduce political pressure on its own business model. Recently, some Republican congressmen have even called on the FBI to investigate whether anti-data center public opinion stems from "China's invisible manipulation." But regardless of whether there is an overseas information operation, the local opposition around data centers itself has multiple real roots: including rising electricity prices, environmental impacts, huge water consumption, large occupation of land resources, and public distrust and antipathy towards AI technology as a whole. Against this background, it is not difficult to understand the strong resistance to data centers in American society, even if there is no external force to promote it.