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, increased electricity prices, and potential job displacement, Bernie Sanders and AOC introduced legislation for a nationwide moratorium on new data center construction. The panel explores the economic implications and highlights the lack of clear evidence supporting claims of rising energy costs directly tied to data centers.
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A grassroots organizer opposing AI data center development in Virginia is also a member of the Party of Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a Marxist-Leninist group that has drawn scrutiny for its political ties and overlap with a Chinese-linked network, digital records show.
Jack Tensley, who has described himself as an “organizer” with PSL, testified before the Frederick County Planning Commission in January, raising concerns about the plans’ cost, energy use and liability.
“My really big fear here is the security risk. We have infrastructure attacks and failures, cyberattacks that happen — I want to know if this puts a target on the back of Frederick County,” Tensley said. “I see a lot of risk here.”
Alongside 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 larger questions about data center expansion.Â
As America races to build the infrastructure needed to power artificial intelligence, community fights over zoning and electricity have raised concerns that larger political groups are attempting to amplify opposition to U.S. AI infrastructure through local influence campaigns.
Jack Tensley speaks at a Frederick County, Virginia planning commission meeting. (Frederick County Planning Commission)
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 struggle for socialism inside the United States,” PSL states. “Capitalism is a failed system that, in its insatiable appetite for ever greater 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 roughly $23.6 billion in AI investments.
But more than that, BPI highlighted ties with Shanghai-based businessman Neville Roy Singham, citing overlapping leadership between PSL and several nonprofits Singham has funded. Singham, 72, has faced congressional scrutiny over his reported ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Singham sold his tech company for $800 million in 2017 and now lives in Shanghai. He has been accused of funding pro-Chinese Communist Party groups that operate in the U.S. In the past, he has funneled $278 million into the broad 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, like Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., have asked the Department of Justice to probe the network.
LAWMAKERS RAISE ALARM OVER NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM’S $278M NETWORK SPREADING CCP PROPAGANDA IN THE U.S.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., argued that the war with Iran would continue for weeks not days as the U.S. continues to kneecap their offensive abilities. (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 on data centers,” Cotton wrote in a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“Among them is a network of U.S. nonprofits funded by Neville Roy Singham, a Shanghai-based American expatriate under U.S.-government scrutiny for his ties to the Chinese Communists.”
Despite their shared personnel, it’s unclear if Singham is directly funding PSL. Taken together, the Bitcoin Policy Institute slammed PSL as a political arm for data center opposition.
“PSL functions as the movement’s ground game — supplying rallies, petitions, public hearings local candidates and neighborhood organizing necessary to stop projects on the ground,” BPI wrote.
For his own party, Tensley has also drawn scrutiny for a digital footprint online. Apart from his support of PSL, he’s also donated to political figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., contributing $172 to his 2020 presidential campaign, according to FEC records.Â
Meanwhile, he continues to oppose Frederick County’s data center plans — an opposition that, in recent months, looks to have succeeded.
He is affiliated with Protect Frederick County from Data Center Development, having signed its petition to the county board of supervisors to reject the development plans.
Cecilia M. With the group, Party for Socialism and Liberation, joins protesters who descended on Los Angeles City Hall on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide day of action to stop funding for ICE and the shooting deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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In June, the board voted 10 to 0 to recommend denial for a 220-acre development in Clearbook, Virginia. Similarly, the board voted 7 to 1 to reject a second 71.8-acre project in Winchester.
Fox News Digital repeatedly reached out to Tensley for comment.
Preston Mizell contributed to this report
