Rogers held millions of dollars in AI-related tech companies; his investments ballooned as he advocated for data centers and AI infrastructure buildout.
Rogers catapulted himself from a prestigious position on the House Intelligence Community to the tech investor boardroom; his investments scored federal contracts and Rogers championed their priorities.
Rogers flip-flopped on data centers and backed a one-year moratorium after Michiganders' united in their opposition.
Rogers Held Up To $2.6 Million Of Shares In AI-Related Tech Companies. According to The Lever, “According to a Lever analysis of Rogers’ most recent financial disclosure, the former U.S. representative holds between $1.7 million and $2.6 million in companies that stand to benefit from tech-friendly policies and a streamlined permitting process for AI-related developments.” [Lever, 8/17/26]
Rogers Raised Nearly $200,000 From AI And Data Center Investors. According to The Lever, “As Rogers faces off against Abdul El-Sayed for a U.S. Senate seat in November, the former congressman has raised nearly $150,000 in campaign cash from a number of individuals with AI and data center investments. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, staunch Trump supporters and investors in multiple AI companies, together gave $14,000 to Rogers’ campaign, and seven executives from private equity firm Blackstone donated $34,500, disclosures show.” [Lever, 8/17/26]
Rogers Retired As Chairman Of The House Intelligence Committee; He Openly Sought A More Lucrative Private Sector Career And Joined Forgepoint Capital Just Months After His Retirement. According to The Lever, “During his 14-year term in the House of Representatives, Rogers reached one of the most powerful positions in the lower chamber: chair of the House Intelligence Committee, which oversees the CIA, the Pentagon, and the broader intelligence community. Just before retiring from Congress in 2015, Rogers backed a plan that would allow the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless subpoenas of Americans’ phone records, an issue that remains contentious today. His retirement came as a surprise, but Republican aides told The New York Times that Rogers was seeking a more lucrative career than what the public sector could offer. He seemingly found that when he entered the venture capital industry, where he has helped steer investments toward cybersecurity and AI companies. Months after retiring from Congress, Rogers joined the advisory council of Trident Capital Cybersecurity, which became Forgepoint in 2018.” [Lever, 8/17/26]
Rogers Declined To Comment On His AI And Tech-Heavy Investments. According to The Lever, “Rogers’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment.” [Lever, 8/17/26]
Government Watchdog Group Revolving Door Project Criticized Rogers’ “Cashing In On His Past Influence” And Eyeing “Potential Future Prominence.” According to The Lever, “‘Mike Rogers has done a good job of cashing in on his past influence, but I also think that some of the cashing in has been with an eye toward his potential future prominence,” said Jeff Hauser, founder and executive director of the Revolving Door Project, a government watchdog group.” [Lever, 8/17/26]
Forgepoint’s “National Venture Capital Association” Spent More Than $4.4 Million To Lobby Both Congress And The White House On “AI Policy Issues” And Permitting Reform On AI Infrastructure Construction. According to The Lever, “Forgepoint is a member of the National Venture Capital Association, an industry lobbying group that has spent more than $4.4 million since 2025 lobbying the White House, Congress, and other regulators on ‘artificial Intelligence policy issues,’ and other matters, disclosures show. The association also wants to streamline federal permitting rules for AI infrastructure, as well as overhaul a crucial environmental protection rule. ” [Lever, 8/17/26]
Rogers Endorsed Trump’s AI Policy Framework And Sought To Ease The Permitting Process On Data Center Construction. According to The Lever, “In March, Rogers endorsed Trump’s newly released ‘National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence,’ which includes plans to speed up federal permitting for data centers and other AI infrastructure. The plan calls for Congress to ‘ensure that residential ratepayers do not experience increased electricity costs as a result of new AI data center construction and operation.’ Rogers, echoing the Trump administration, told Michigan news outlets that he wants to make the permitting process easier for AI companies, and supports localities choosing if they want data centers. ‘We have to make Michigan competitive for new AI-supported jobs and investments that grow our state, while setting a responsible framework for safety and data privacy,’ he said. ‘We need to make sure data centers pay for all their own power usage so that Michiganders aren’t footing the bill in higher rates.’” [Lever, 8/17/26]
Rogers Spent Months Outlining His Support For Data Centers; He Endorsed An Expedited Federal Permitting Plan, Touted Economic Benefits, Downplayed Environmental Concerns, And Proposed Property Tax Offsets. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “Before Mike Rogers called for a one-year moratorium on new data centers in Michigan, he spent months arguing the state should compete for them. The Republican U.S. Senate nominee endorsed a federal plan to speed permitting for artificial intelligence infrastructure, touted the economic potential of AI development, downplayed concerns about data center water use, and repeatedly suggested communities could grow to welcome the massive facilities if their tax revenue was used to lower property taxes, according to a Metro Times’ review of his past statements. ‘The choice is simple: lead the charge or fall behind,’ Rogers said in March.” [Detroit Metro Times, 8/28/26]
Rogers Repeatedly Declined To Comment On Data Centers And Artificial Intelligence In The Early Days Of The Michigan Senate Race. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “Rogers, who is facing Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in November, initially avoided taking a public position. In December, The Gander asked every major U.S. Senate candidate about data centers and artificial intelligence and gave them a week to respond. Rogers didn’t answer multiple requests for comment. He again declined to respond in January when Planet Detroit asked Senate candidates about data centers as opposition to the facilities was spreading across Michigan.” [Detroit Metro Times, 8/28/26]
March 2026: Rogers Endorsed Trump’s National Policy Framework For Artificial Intelligence To Streamline Federal Permitting For AI Infrastructure And Was “Eager To Ease The Process Of Seeking Permits For New AI Facilities.” According to the Detroit Metro Times, “By March, Rogers had found his position. He endorsed President Trump’s ‘National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence,’ which called on Congress to streamline federal permitting for AI infrastructure while trying to protect residential utility customers from higher electricity costs caused by data centers. Rogers praised AI’s potential in health care, manufacturing, and agriculture and said a consistent national policy would allow the country to accelerate its development. ‘The choice is simple: lead the charge or fall behind,’ Rogers said. ‘Let’s get this done.’ The next day, Michigan Advance reported that Rogers was ‘eager to ease the process of seeking permits for new AI facilities.’” [Detroit Metro Times, 8/28/26]
April 2026: Rogers Downplayed Environmental Concerns And Suggested Communities Would Want “Two” Data Centers If Property Tax Rebates And Offsets Were Properly Incentivized. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “By April, Rogers was making the case that data centers could provide a financial windfall for communities. At an April 17 Kalamazoo County Republican event, Rogers downplayed concerns about their water consumption, saying his research showed most used recycled water and, if built properly, consumed less water than a golf course. He then pointed to the tax revenue expected from a proposed data center in Saline Township and argued that it should be used to lower residents’ property taxes. If a data center could cut residents’ property taxes in half, Rogers predicted communities might respond by asking, ‘Could you give us two?’” [Detroit Metro Times, 8/28/26]
May 2026: Rogers Proposed His Property Tax Rebate Structure On Data Centers. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “Rogers returned to the argument repeatedly over the next several months. In May, he proposed directing every dollar in new property tax revenue generated by a data center back toward reducing property taxes for residents of the community where it was located.” [Detroit Metro Times, 8/28/26]
July 2026: Rogers Continued To Tout His Property Tax Rebate Plan And The “Benefit” Of Data Center Construction. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “During a July 17 Fox Business appearance, Rogers again argued that residents could be persuaded to support data centers if they received a direct financial benefit. ‘They don’t want another school, they don’t want another fire station,’ Rogers said. ‘They want to know that there’s a benefit for them.’” [Detroit Metro Times, 8/28/26]
August 5, 2026: Rogers Reaffirmed His Support For Data Centers, With Community Input, That Followed His Property Tax Relief Plan. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “As recently as Aug. 5, Rogers’ position was being described as support for allowing communities to decide whether to approve data centers while directing additional tax revenue toward property tax relief.” [Detroit Metro Times, 8/28/26]
August 20, 2026: Rogers Called For A One-Year Moratorium on Data Center Construction While Michigan Established A “Fair, Transparent Approval Process That Puts Local Communities First.” According to the Detroit Metro Times, “Then came the moratorium. ‘I think we need to take a pause, probably, and make sure that we’re answering all the questions that people have,’ Rogers said Aug. 20. His campaign later clarified that he supports a one-year statewide moratorium while Michigan establishes what Rogers called a ‘fair, transparent approval process that puts local communities first.’” [Detroit Metro Times, 8/28/26]
Rogers Declined To Comment On His Flip-Flop. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “Rogers hasn’t explained what changed between late July, when he was predicting communities might ask for additional data centers, and Aug. 20, when he called for stopping new developments statewide. The change came as data centers were becoming an increasingly difficult political issue for Republicans.” [Detroit Metro Times, 8/28/26]
A Majority Of Michiganders Opposed Data Center Construction In Their Communities And Michigan Relied Heavily On Private Underground Wells. According to The Lever, “Polling from May showed that 55 percent of Michiganders opposed building data centers within 25 miles of their homes. That opposition softened somewhat when the hypothetical developments were accompanied by electricity cost restrictions and other safeguards. Michigan has one of the largest populations of residents who use private underground wells for clean drinking water, with nearly half of its residents relying on groundwater.” [Lever, 8/17/26]