James Li Data centers are popping up all over the country, thousands of them.
News Anchor / Reporter Utah could soon be home to one of the nation’s most advanced data centers.
News Nevada Reporter Developers of a data center that broke ground today say that it will be the largest infrastructure deployment in the United States.
News Reporter We’ve seen data center proposals and projects pop up all around the Metra, and today officials broke ground on one of them, a data center in Independence. The Nebius AI data center will become a reality thanks to $150 billion in bonds.
James Li They’re telling us all of this is necessary because we are in an existential arms race against China.
Donald Trump We are leading China by a lot in the AI race. And whoever wins the AI race, and we’re going to win it.
Mike Johnson- Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives When President Trump took office, he gave us all a monumental task. He said we have to make America the world leader in artificial intelligence.
JD Vance- Vice President, United States of America to be pro-innovation. He wants us to win the AI race against all other countries in the world. He recognizes that AI is going to be an important tool, not just for our economy, but for our military. And so he wants to ensure that we are winning that particular race.
James Li They also tell us that in order to win this race, we must build more data centers, trillions of dollars worth more.
News Reporter fox business We have a race to be the AI capital of the world and we have to win it. We have all sorts of different investment coming in. It’s mounting into the trillions where ground is already being broken for data centers across the country.
Dan Liberman- More perfect union I’m here in Mansfield, Georgia, driving by Meta’s new two million square foot data center facility. Facilities like this are being used to power things like ChatGBT and other AI tools that are becoming integrated into our daily life.
James Li So that’s what they’re telling us. We need trillions of dollars worth of data centers to power ChatGBT. But is that actually true? Because as it stands, the U.S. already has 5,000 data centers in operation, 10 times more than the next country, Germany, which is just over 500. Big Bad China is at number four with 449 data centers. In fact, we have more data centers than the next nine countries combined. And this next part is what truly does not make any sense. Based on the latest estimate, in addition to the 5,000 data centers that we already have, nearly 3,000 new data centers are under construction or planned across the United States. The math just ain’t mathin’. And believe me, I am not the only one noticing. Could all of this just be a cover story? What if the AA arms race isn’t with a foreign adversary at all? What if it’s actually preparing for something else? Something much closer to home? During the Vietnam War, the NSA ran a secret domestic espionage program called Project Minaret, whereby the agency intercepted thousands of communications specifically targeting American anti-war activists, civil rights leaders, and political journalists. Decades later, as the U.S. was engaged in the Iraq War, AT&T collaborated with the NSA to install fiber-optic splitters at its facility in Room 641A at 611 Folsom Street in San Francisco, allowing the agency to mirror and analyze all internet traffic passing through the building, capturing both domestic and foreign communications without a warrant. Now fast forward to today, the Anti-Defamation League, with massive federal backing, is actively tracking thousands of what they deem to be quote-unquote anti-Semitic incidents across the country, which includes anti-war protests and pro-Palestine rallies, calling these incidents a threat to national security.
Commentator Number one, we need NYPD back on this campus or bring in the National Guard.
James Li The difference between then and now, though, is that targeted wiretaps and communication intercepts were more than sufficient because dissent was highly centralized. Today, that is not so easy. Anyone with a smartphone is now potentially a vector to instantly spread ideas that the government or other powerful lobbying groups could deem a threat to national stability. I think you know where I’m going with this. They’re not building AI data centers. They’re building AI surveillance centers. Allegedly. Now, before we continue, I just want to really quickly tell you about my only affiliate partner on this channel, vp.net. Because you know how Israel pretty much owns all the VPNs now, including ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access. which as it turns out, not so private after all. And even though they all promise privacy, VPN services all know exactly what you’re browsing, who you are, where you are, and has a government backdoor built in should they ever need it. And I don’t think we have to imagine too hard why the Israeli government would want to see our internet history. Well, every VPN until now. VP.net, which was co-founded by my friend and legend, Matt Kim, has built the first truly trustless VPN. meaning that they made it cryptographically impossible for even themselves to see your data. Instead of an empty corporate promise, your data will truly be anonymized inside hardware-secured Intel SGX enclaves. It uses zero-knowledge architecture and advanced traffic shields to completely block mass observation and fingerprinting. And best of all, it’s owned and operated right here in the USA. And if you sign up today, it’s just five bucks a month. Go to vp.net slash 5149. You guys know me, I hate doing standard ads. That’s why I pretty much don’t do them. Securing your digital footprint is too important to ignore right now. Again, it’s just five bucks a month, vp.net slash 5149. It’s the only VPN that I use, and it’s the only one I trust. And now back to your regularly scheduled program. I want to show you something real quick. The implied return on hyperscaler AI investment 2025 to 2030. What do you see that’s wrong with this picture? There’s no money to be made. According to the Financial Times, who are using what they call, quote, the most generous assumptions, the biggest tech companies invested in AI are not projected to make any money. Microsoft AI ROI at negative 9%, Google is at negative 15%, Meta at negative 28%, Oracle at negative 35%, only Amazon barely comes out positive. And even they have major reservations about AI from a commercial perspective.
Matt Berman, CEO Amazon web services I was in a group, a leadership group, and people were telling me, they’re like, we think that with AI, we can replace all of our junior people in our company. I was like, that’s like one of the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
James Li And yet, they want to build 3,000 more data centers. That doesn’t make any sense, unless what they’re using them for is not in a commercial context, if you know what I mean.
Commentator foto 3
Larry Ellison. The second richest person on earth who’s gobbling up a lot of the media in this country, who is a major investor in AI predicts an AI-powered surveillance state is coming where, this is Larry Ellison, major investor, this is what he says, where citizens will be on their best behavior. because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on.
Larry Ellison Citizens will be on their best behavior because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.
James Li On July 13, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order accelerating federal permitting of data center infrastructure. where he declared, quote, You hear that? Essential to national security. On March 20th of 2026, President Trump issues another press release, unveiling his National AI Legislative Framework, again where he reiterated his administration’s commitment to winning the AI race to usher in a new era of human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security for the American people. There it is again, national security.
JD Vance- Vice President, United States of America The president wants us to be pro-innovation. He wants us to win the AI race against all other countries in the world. He recognizes that AI is going to be an important tool, not just for our economy, but for our military. And so he wants to ensure that we are winning that particular race.
James Li Doesn’t sound like the AI race is at all about powering chatbots or other commercial enterprise use cases at all. Seems like it’s about national security. Question is for which nation Congress is about to merge the US military with Israel permanently.
Commentator And they hit it inside of a 3000 page bill.
Commentator The pro Israel forces in Congress are trying to merge the US and Israeli militaries. I’m not kidding.
Commentator You actually look in. to Section 224, you’ll find it listed among the top priorities of the U.S. Congress. It’s not just merging American troops and American military hardware with Israel, it’s merging America’s AI infrastructure and autonomous weapons systems with Israel as well. They keep telling us that all these data centers, thousands of them, they’re vital to national security. Well now, Under the 2027 NDAA, Israel will gain access to them, which has always been the plan. These data centers, they aren’t about powering chat GPT on your smartphone. They aren’t about keeping you safe. They’re about powering a surveillance state that reports back to greater Israel.
James Li Back in March of this year, a hack in the Department of Homeland Security shone a light on the agency’s AI surveillance ambitions, exposing over 1,400 funded contracts worth a combined $845 million, showing that the federal government is heavily funding private sector companies to develop advanced mobile biometrics, automated CCTV tracking, and predictive policing systems. Publicly, we already know that the Pentagon has a $9 billion joint warfighting cloud capability contract with companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle. Recent reports indicate that the sequel, dubbed JWCC-NEXT, will similarly be a multi-award contract, but at a bigger scale than its predecessor. So while you might see the logos of Amazon or Google or Microsoft on the sides of these massive AI data center facilities the size of New York City, and this is important because functionally these buildings actually belong to the military surveillance industrial complex, And that is by design, as this arrangement, this public-private partnership, allows them to spy on you 24-7, allegedly, while laundering your Fourth Amendment protections through this private corporate shield, because technically, they don’t belong to the U.S. government or military. Which, oh by the way, could be fusing with Israel. But if you don’t want them built, you’re either a bot or a CCP spy. According to a new report from independent journalist Ken Klippenstein, a new Congressional Intelligence Agency has just been created to track anti-AI data center protesters.
Daniel Bogislaw-Freelance investigative reporter Protesters, activists, local citizens using their constitutional rights to say, hey, whether it’s a city council meeting, whether it’s a planning board meeting, saying we don’t want these extractive technologies in our neighborhood, those organizations, those individuals, are now being thrown into a huge dragnet under the category of anti-technology extremism. So whether that’s people posting jokes online or on forums, you know, saying, man, I hope this thing overheats and blows up so we don’t have to stare at it every day and hear the hum, you know, pulsating through our bones, or whether it’s just, you know, mom and pop, store owners, farmers, you name it, organizing to show up to their local town hall to say, you know, we don’t want this in our community. Those people are being surveilled. Those people are being criminalized.
Protester This right here came by because I’m trying to organize a community protest against a representative who is trying to push in a data center owned by a out-of-state company, trying to suck up all our energy. I made a post, I made an event on Facebook trying to organize the community to get together. And what’s your badge number? Name and badge number?
Police Officer I’ve detected that, sir.
Protester And name and badge number?
Police Officer SHRP and it’s 162.
Protester Okay, yeah. No, I have a First Amendment right to protest, and if I organize a protest on a public road, there’s nothing wrong with that. I sent an email to that representative, and I can show you the email. I never made a threat.
Police Officer Well, we disagree, and our state’s attorney disagrees. Okay, so you’re going to be charged today for a couple offenses.
Protester Seriously? I’m going to get charged for what?
Police Officer For stalking and intimidation.
Protester For stalking? When did I ever go to his house?
Police Officer We’ll explain that to you more, okay? So you are going to be placed under arrest right now, okay?
James Li That’s right. If you don’t like AI data centers, you’re a terrorist. You don’t like Israel, you’re also a terrorist. Let me tell you, this type of framing directly mirrors how the state weaponized the War on Terror to pass the Patriot Act in order to spy on ordinary American citizens.
Larry Fink- CEO. Blackrock But even here in the United States, if we’re going to be building, let’s say, these one gigawatt data centers, how do we make sure we’re not protecting those $50 billion, $75 billion investments? We have to re-look at everything because of the role of drone warfare. Right now, we’re looking at it internationally. But one of my concerns is, could it be a domestic terrorism using a $3,000 drone?
James Li It couldn’t be more crystal clear. We have their attention, and they are actually afraid. I know it may look doom and gloom, but the public is actually winning this battle.
Reporter – central Oregon daily A big wave of relief from a very passionate crowd after the Lapine City Council decides not to move forward with a proposed data center. That vote, unanimous, and came after residents voiced strong and often fiery opposition to the proposed project.
James Li According to Heatmap News, 25 data centers were scrubbed in 2025 after local pushback, four times as many as 2024. The number of cancellations, they say, is likely to grow in the year to come. At least 99 data center projects nationwide are now being contested by local activists or residents. Aaron Brockovich, yes, that Aaron Brockovich, recently launched a new tool to help the public track the real-world impact of AI data centers. They want us to believe that all of this is inevitable. that resisting AI is an act of treason. But let me tell you, this is our country. It’s our community. It’s our family. It’s our friends. It’s humanity. And that is exactly why this fight is worth fighting for. And that’s why we are going to win. That is it for me this week. This is one of those stories that the mainstream media will never cover. And coincidentally or not, it’s also one of those fights I think that’s truly worth fighting. So I want to hear from you. Do you and your family live near a data center? Is one popping up in your community? What’s your experience been like? Sound off in the comments section below. Also, if you want to support my journalism, you can go to my website, 5149JamesLee.com, sign up to become a member, or there’s also an option to give a one-time donation, no subscription necessary. You can also buy some merch. That’s how we fund pieces like this, and that’s how we keep independent media free. But if not, no worries at all. Please just do me a big favor, hype this video, give it a thumbs up, share it, subscribe to the channel, turn on your notification bell so you can be the first to know when my next video drops. As always, thank you so much for your time, and I will see you in the next one.
Larry Fink- CEO. Blackrock If we’re going to be the leader in technology, which we are, if we are gonna be the leader in AI, which we personally are, It’s just going to require trillions of dollars of investments. And so much of this money, not just the private, is going to be coming from the private sector. From savings accounts, from pension accounts, from insurance companies, on and on and on.
Summary
Independent journalist James Li used this week’s video to make a provocative case: the wave of AI data centers spreading across the United States isn’t really about powering tools like ChatGPT, but about quietly building out a domestic surveillance network. Throughout the piece he hedges the central claim as happening “allegedly,” but the thrust is unmistakable.
Li’s argument begins with a question of arithmetic. The U.S., he says, already operates roughly 5,000 data centers — about ten times more than Germany, the next-ranked country, and more than the next nine nations combined — yet nearly 3,000 more are planned or under construction. That expansion, he contends, makes little commercial sense. Citing Financial Times projections he describes as using the “most generous assumptions,” Li notes that the largest hyperscalers are forecast to lose money on AI, pointing to negative returns for Microsoft, Google, Meta and Oracle, with only Amazon barely in the black. If there’s no profit to be made, he asks, why keep building?
His answer is surveillance. Li draws a line from past government programs — the NSA’s Vietnam-era Project Minaret, which targeted anti-war activists and journalists, and the AT&T “Room 641A” operation that mirrored internet traffic for the NSA — to what he frames as a modern equivalent dressed up as economic competition. He points to the repeated invocation of “national security” in a July 2025 Trump executive order fast-tracking data-center permitting and in a March 2026 National AI Legislative Framework. He cites Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison’s prediction of a world where citizens stay “on their best behavior” under constant AI recording, and references a Department of Homeland Security data breach said to expose more than 1,400 contracts worth roughly $845 million for biometrics, automated CCTV tracking and predictive policing.
The video frames political and tech leaders as aligned behind the buildout. Footage from the Hill & Valley Forum 2026 shows House Speaker Mike Johnson describing President Trump’s directive to make America the world leader in AI, while a clip of Senator Bernie Sanders is used to introduce the Ellison surveillance-state warning. Li argues the same momentum is now being turned against critics, citing reporting attributed to journalist Ken Klippenstein about a new congressional body tracking data-center protesters under an “anti-technology extremism” label, and including footage of an organizer arrested for “stalking and intimidation” after promoting a protest online.
The video’s most contested section, delivered largely through an interview clip, claims that legislation tied to a 2027 defense bill would merge U.S. and Israeli militaries and AI infrastructure, and that the data centers would ultimately “report back to greater Israel.” These assertions are presented as the creator’s own and are not independently established.
Li closes on an optimistic note, arguing the public is winning. He cites Heatmap News reporting that 25 data-center projects were scrapped in 2025 after local opposition — four times the 2024 figure — that at least 99 projects are being contested nationwide, and that Erin Brockovich has launched a tool to track the facilities’ local impact. He ends with a call to support independent media and a sponsored segment for the VPN service vp.net.
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