Texas Gov. Greg Abbott dismissed claims that Chinese disinformation is driving U.S. opposition to data center construction, telling Fox News that his recent moratorium reflected direct engagement with constituents facing community impacts rather than anything said by Beijing. Abbott still acknowledged that China is trying to shape the narrative and has separately taken a hard line on Chinese technology, including a January ban on state employees using Alibaba, Baidu and other China-linked firms over data-security concerns. His stance puts him at odds with President Donald Trump, who called Texas’s position a mistake in August and argued data centers could be bigger than oil, while Texas Senate nominee Ken Paxton has backed Abbott’s approach as Republicans weigh the issue ahead of the midterms. The remarks followed X’s disclosure of an approximately 200,000-account China-linked bot farm, including a few hundred accounts that spread negative content about data centers and electricity costs in ways that could distort the AI and energy policy debate. Industry figures seized on the findings, but the report does not show that foreign accounts created the broader U.S. backlash; polling, local cost and grid concerns, criticism from figures including Rep. Ro Khanna and Mark Cuban, and billions in delayed projects point to substantial domestic resistance even as major tech firms continue large lease commitments.