Bitcoin Policy Institute Head of Research Testifies Before Congress on Foreign Influence Campaign Targeting American AI

Sam Lyman testified before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that his research tracked 21 China-linked campaigns across 14 states that helped stall or block $23.6 billion in proposed U.S. AI infrastructure

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Sam Lyman, head of research at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, testified Tuesday before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia on a foreign influence campaign targeting America's artificial intelligence buildout.

The hearing, "Trojan Horses: Covert Foreign Malign Influence Operations in America," examined how foreign adversaries use nonprofits, activist networks, and foreign state media to shape American public opinion. Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., presided. Lyman, a former senior adviser and chief speechwriter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, testified alongside other expert witnesses.

Lyman's testimony drew on two reports he authored this year for BPI, "Foreign Influence in the Campaign Against American AI." The reports document three vectors of influence: Chinese state media and bot networks pushing content against U.S. data centers to American audiences; U.S. nonprofits funded by Shanghai-based Marxist Neville Roy Singham; and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Marxist-Leninist group with extensive foreign ties whose leadership is drawn from Singham-funded organizations.