US adversary turns up the heat on Americas AI lead with an underestimated edge

China is racing to build the data centers and energy infrastructure needed to power artificial intelligence, raising concerns that Beijings ability to rapidly construct massive projects could help it get closer to Americas commanding lead in the physical infrastructure underpinning the AI race.

The U.S. remains far ahead in sheer numbers. The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligences 2026 AI Index, using Cloudscene data, counted 5,427 U.S. data centers in 2025 compared with 449 in China. Stanford cautioned that the count does not account for differences in facility size, computing capacity or utilization.

But China is moving quickly.

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"We know that China is far behind, but we also know that they are moving at great speed," China expert Gordon Chang told Fox News Digital.

Chang argued that Beijing understands the U.S. advantage will be difficult to erase if America continues building at the same pace and said growing opposition to data-center development could slow that expansion.

President Donald Trump made a similar argument this week, warning communities fighting new projects that China stands to benefit.

"China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Actually, they cant believe it is happening!" Trump also argued that communities embracing data centers would gain jobs and tax revenues.

Vice President JD Vance sharpened that warning Thursday, telling FOX Business there was "a very good chance" the U.S. could lose the AI race to China if Democrats regain control of Congress.

Vance said the broader problem is Americas ability to build enough power to support data centers and other major infrastructure. "We cannot be a country that says were not going to build more power," Vance said, arguing that the administration is trying to make it easier to construct power plants alongside data centers while protecting residential ratepayers from higher electricity costs.

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He also pointed to the widening U.S.-China electricity gap, saying China now generates roughly three times as much power as the United States. "Weve got to build more power plants. Weve got to make the regulatory state easier to work with."

Asked about Chinas rapid infrastructure expansion, the Chinese Embassy in Washington rejected the premise that AI should primarily be viewed as a geopolitical contest.

"AI should not be owned by major countries, still less dominated by contests and rivalry," Embassy spokesperson Liu Chang told Fox News Digital.

Liu pointed to Chinas 2025 Global AI Governance Action Plan, which calls for accelerating construction of clean power, next-generation networks, computing capacity and data centers. He said China advocates cooperation with the U.S. and wants AI development to benefit both countries and the broader international community.

Behind that diplomatic message, Beijing is undertaking a massive geographic reorganization of its computing infrastructure.