Expose manipulation. Understand the stakes.
The campaigns shaping the AI debate. The decisions shaping what gets built. And the discoveries already changing what AI can do.
X disclosure · August 2026 · Platform-reported
X reports 200 accounts targeting the US AI-and-energy debate inside a suspected Chinese network of roughly 200,000 accounts.
Accounts reported by X; not the count active on this issue.
Issue-related accounts identified within that network.
Separate case · June 2026
OpenAI reports AI-assisted posts blaming data centers for rising electricity costs.
The operation posed as ordinary Americans discussing local issues.
OpenAI's overview found no evidence of meaningful reach beyond the operation's own activity.
Investigators traced earthquake and power-collapse claims to imitation news sites. FIP also documented a fabricated Iranian-threat narrative. They attribute the campaign to Russia-linked Storm 1516.
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Mandiant identified fake resident accounts targeting Lynas in Texas, with related messaging against Canadian and Oklahoma projects. It found limited engagement from genuine users.
Read the storyNew · Follow the money
Three source-linked trails follow election funding, corporate policy advocacy and a local ballot campaign—from the money to the action and recorded result.
Explore the funding trails ↗
OpenAI linked a likely China-origin influence operation to accounts spreading false data-theft claims about ChatGPT. It found no wider breakout.
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Leading the Future reported $40 million in contributions to other committees through June 2026. Associated PACs announced ads aimed at helping elect lawmakers aligned with its AI agenda.
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Two announced donations fund Public First Action's policy and public-education work. Anthropic says the money cannot be used to influence candidate elections.
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Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez turned concerns about AI into a proposed construction freeze. Build American AI answered with warnings about jobs, access and competition with China.
Read the storyPublic opinion · 2026 survey waves
By summer, a majority in each party group opposed new data centers locally. Broader expectations about AI stayed stable.
Explore public-opinion trends ↗These surveys measure attitudes, not what caused the change.
Up from 49% earlier in 2026. Annenberg asked about new data centers in respondents' communities.
By summer: 54% of Republicans and 69% of Democrats opposed. Party groups include leaners.
Original survey results ↗
HMC StratCap withdrew its Saturn Street application in March 2026, citing the city's restrictions. A May ordinance prohibited data centers, and the city later confirmed voters had adopted the ban.
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After public organizing and a council hearing, a 5–2 vote denied the plan amendment for a roughly 199-acre site. The city says the accompanying zoning change could not proceed without it.
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The March ruling invalidated three rezonings for defective public notice. The county’s later update reports the original zoning restored while the comprehensive-plan amendment survives.
Read the story20 source-linked records show withdrawals, denials, appeals and construction milestones.
Search the project directory ↗
Berkeley Lab counted about 8,200 active generation and storage projects seeking transmission connections at the end of 2025. For projects that reached operation in 2025, the median wait exceeded five years in regions with data.
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Maine voters approved restrictions that halted the NECEC transmission project. A court case and jury verdict changed its path; EIA records commercial operation beginning January 16, 2026.
Read the storySeparate transmission hearings announced
See the decision trail ↗Fuel-loading process begins
See the decision trail ↗Connection and licensing milestones reported
See the decision trail ↗
ECMWF reported gains on forecast measures and far less energy per forecast at AIFS's 2025 launch. Its May 2026 update added AI wave and snow-cover forecasts.
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The IEA projects rising data-center electricity demand while identifying opportunities for AI to improve grid operation.
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The 2024 study reported improved predictions across several kinds of biomolecular interactions, expanding the questions researchers can investigate.
Read the storyOriginal disclosures, public records, survey results and scientific studies are linked throughout the collection.
Browse the source register ↗First collection · Reviewed September 7, 2026 · Selected source briefs, not exhaustive coverage or independent forensic attribution.