Texas paused 1,800 data-centre projects over grid load, not a bot network
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said his moratorium on data-centre construction grew out of constituents' complaints rather than Chinese influence. He said power demand is running to 5 times what Texas can currently supply, and that his administration had halted some 1,800 AI data-centre projects in the state. X said it found a 200,000-account Chinese bot network, a few hundred of whose accounts posted against data centres. Abbott accepted that China is trying to shape sentiment and rested his pause on the grid, not that network.
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The state says it has halted new approvals
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a Fox News interview that his moratorium on data-centre construction grew out of his constituents' complaints rather than Chinese influence. He said power demand is running to five times what Texas can currently supply. Earlier this month he said his administration had halted some 1,800 AI data-centre projects in the state. That is a statewide pause on new approvals; the governor rested his own change of position on those power figures and on constituent complaints.[1]
A bot-network claim was not the governor's stated reason
X had said on Thursday that it found a 200,000-account Chinese bot network, a few hundred of whose accounts posted content disparaging data centres. Darren Linvill, a researcher at Clemson University, said most of those accounts drew no engagement and were probably shut down by X before they gathered followers. Samuel Woolley of the University of Pittsburgh said the only reports he has seen of Chinese data-centre propaganda come from large technology companies with a vested interest in the build-out; X is owned by Elon Musk. Abbott accepted that China is trying to shape sentiment and did not rest his pause on that network.[1]
A local board is still only weighing a pause
County commissioners in Georgia said they would weigh a temporary moratorium on further data-centre projects. Residents raised noise, fire safety and transparency.[2], [3]
