X said Chinese bots fuelled the data centre backlash. A researcher checked

X identified at least 59 Chinese-linked bot accounts that posted 90 messages in January about U.S. AI data-centre opposition, each posting two or three times before X suspended them, resulting in zero engagement. The posts linked to local coverage of PJM’s 2027/2028 capacity auction and featured AI-generated cartoons criticizing data-centre operators. OpenAI’s earlier “Data Center Bandwagon” report connected the same accounts to Chinese operators using VPNs and ChatGPT to generate the campaign.