OpenAI pledges to pay full power costs and drop NDAs with officials for its data centres
Published two days after US voters backed restrictions in 40 of 41 local data-centre ballot measures, the commitments add community input and published construction plans, plus a policy blueprint urging lawmakers to make them law.
Why it matters
The pledge is the first big response from a frontier lab to Tuesday's midterm results, in which voters backed restrictions or rejected pro-development measures in all but one of 41 local data-centre ballot measures across 10 states. OpenAI told investors in February it targets $600 billion in compute spending by 2030, so local permission is now a real constraint on its build-out. Chris Lehane said the blueprint has been in the works since August. Watch whether other labs copy the commitments and whether the new Congress turns them into law.
Key facts
- Pays full cost of powering data centres it owns and operates
- Will solicit community input and publish construction plans
- No non-disclosure agreements with public officials
- Voters backed restrictions in all but one of 41 local measures in 10 states
- Targets $600bn compute spend by 2030
- Blueprint in the works since August, per Chris Lehane