For Immediate Release

February 23, 2026

Contact: media@nidaallam.com

ICYMI: NIDA ALLAM RALLIES WITH APEX ORGANIZERS TO SAY NO TO ‘AI TAX’ & AI SUPER PAC SPENDING

As AI Super PACs spend six figures in support of Rep. Foushee, residents rally against AI data centers and Super PACs

VIDEO: Full Press Conference

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​DURHAM, NC — This weekend, Nida Allam, Durham County Commissioner and candidate for Congress in NC-04, hosted a press conference alongside Wake County residents and advocates to oppose the last-minute AI Super PAC spending backing incumbent Representative Valerie Foushee in the primary election and speak out against AI data center construction plans in Apex.

“The oligarchs and out of state development companies who are proposing to build an AI data center in our community call it construction. But we see right through it! We know it’s destruction: of our jobs, of our environment, and of our communities themselves,” Allam said in her speech. “63% of voters in NC-04 believe AI data centers harm our community. They’ve asked candidates to refuse money from the AI lobby, and I'm proud to take that pledge.”

Already, AI corporation Anthropic’s AI Super PAC named American Jobs and Democracy PAC, has spent almost $300,000 in support of incumbent Rep. Valerie Foushee — shortly after Democratic leadership added her as a co-chair to their industry-friendly “Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy.” Anthropic was the first AI company allowed to offer services on the federal government’s classified networks, partnering with Palantir—the corporation also powering ICE’s surveillance, tracking, and kidnapping of immigrant communities. Anthropic’s software has also been used by the Trump administration’s war machine, recently used to help capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Anthropic also previously received at least $500 million in investments from Crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who spent $1 million in support of Valerie Foushee in 2022, before being sent to prison for fraud.

Allam was joined by NC House Rep. Julie von Haefen and community advocate Dr. Michelle Hoffner O'Connor. All three expressed grave concern over the proposed AI Data Center in Apex, which residents have long opposed. Recently, over 335 residents wrote an open letter to NC-04 candidates of both parties asking them to oppose its construction. Just this month, Chatham County passed a 12-month moratorium on AI data center construction.

Nida Allam is the only candidate running in this primary who has opposed the proposed Apex data center, and is also the only candidate who has voiced support for Bernie Sanders’ AI Data Center moratorium.

​Watch the press conference in full here​

See Nida’s full remarks below:

Friends, we come together this morning to speak truth to power… literal power!

Because our friends and neighbors here in Apex have been organizing for months to make their voices heard.

And we will not let their efforts go unnoticed.

The oligarchs and out of state development companies who are proposing to build an AI data center in our community call it construction.

But we see right through it! We know it’s destruction: of our jobs, of our environment, and of our communities themselves!

We know they look at the land and all they see is more profit, more energy—and we see the future home of our children and their families.

They look at our monthly utility bills… and they see another way to inflate their bottom line.

A recent study found that, in areas surrounding new data centers, electricity is now as much as 267% more expensive than it was 5 years ago.

At that rate, if your monthly bill is $200, in 5 years, it could be $534 per month.

Here in Apex, a proposed AI data center would suck up 25-30% of the local power supply—not to mention threaten our communities with a bunch of back-up diesel generators that will pollute our water and air.

Companies like Meta and Anthropic are spending millions of dollars across the country, trying to convince us otherwise.

They claim that they want progress. Or that these centers will create jobs.

In fact, they’re so concerned with cleaning up their image that they’ve gotten involved in our congressional race! They’ve already put over 100,000 dollars of Super PAC support behind my opponent, Representative Foushee.

They’re calling themselves the “Jobs and Democracy PAC”... and they think we can’t see right through it.

But we do!

As the great Frederick Douglass once said: Power concedes nothing without a demand.

And our neighbors here in Apex are DEMANDING no AI tax on their power!

63% of voters in NC-04 believe AI data centers harm our community.

They’ve asked candidates to refuse money from the AI lobby. I'm proud to do that.

And I’m proud to stand side by side with them, for a brighter future in NC-04.

Thank you!

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