Sam Lyman

#190 - Sam Lyman - China’s Secret War on American AI

- China's alleged campaign to sabotage U.S. AI infrastructure through bot campaigns, influence networks, and funding of domestic activist groups opposed to data center construction. - Neville Roy Singham, a Maoist billionaire based in Shanghai, has funneled $278 million into U.S. left-wing nonprofits (Code Pink, Party for Socialism and Liberation) to stall approximately $24 billion in AI infrastructure buildout. - The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) has organized 21 campaigns across the country blocking or delaying data center projects, including a $12 billion facility in Wisconsin. - Comparison between Chinese open-source AI models (DeepSeek, Qwen) and U.S. frontier models; China dominates open-source while the U.S. leads frontier AI but risks export controls limiting domestic innovation. - Debate over AI existential risk (P-Doom) and whether industry leaders use superintelligence narratives as regulatory moats to eliminate competitors; BPI estimates 1–2% risk of superintelligence posing existential threat. - Data center moratoriums gaining traction at county, state, and federal levels; Democratic leadership moving toward blanket bans despite bipartisan support from unions and communities for job creation.