Marxist organizer leads campaign against Virginia AI data center as foreign influence concerns mount
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...
By Fox News · Fox News
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. 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. TOP ENERGY GROUP WARNS WEALTHY FOREIGNERS ARE POTENTIALLY BANKROLLING ANTI-DATA CENTER CAMPAIGNS ACROSS US 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 w…