Foreign adversaries running 'psyop' to fuel anti-AI and anti-data center movement, war official says

A top official at the Department of War discussed how artificial intelligence is playing a role in war readiness strategy, and said foreign adversaries are carrying out "psyop" operations to fuel the anti-data center and anti-artificial intelligence movement across the U.S.During an interview with Fox News Digital in the White House, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael warned that the movement to decrease production for artificial intelligence infrastructure is being pushed by America’s adversaries."It is natural from a propaganda standpoint that your adversary, who doesn't want you to be developing super intelligence ahead of them, is going to try to psyop your population into believing that.And to some degree, it's worked.

And I think that's why you see the president push back and say, ‘no, this is a good thing,’" he said.CRUZ SAYS WINNING AI RACE AGAINST CHINA IS 'SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ECONOMIC QUESTION' FOR AMERICAThe Pentagon says AI use has surged under Secretary Pete Hegseth, growing from roughly 70,000 users to about 1.7 million across the Department of War workforce as officials deploy the technology for operations, warfighting and intelligence.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images; Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)Data center production has been at the center of debate ahead of the midterm elections, with lawmakers taking near-partisan stances as to whether developments should continue.

Michael referred to data centers as the "electricity that fuels the superintelligence revolution," and explained that continued production of facilities are a crucial part of ensuring the U.S.maintains the lead in the artificial intelligence race.Protests have popped up across the country against data centers and artificial intelligence advancements in general, with some lawmakers raising questions about the role that foreign influence plays in the demonstrations.DATA CENTERS COULD BE THE SLEEPER ISSUE OF THE 2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS"It's the same reason we ...