OpenAI pledges to pay the full cost of its data centers’ electricity and drop NDAs after the voter backlash

OpenAI pledged to cover the electricity and infrastructure costs of its AI data centers as it expands computing capacity across the US, promising to prevent local households from bearing the financial burden of powering its projects¹. “We’ll pay the full cost of the electricity we use,” the company said¹.

The company also pledged to give local residents more say in data center projects². It promised to drop non-disclosure agreements and increase community transparency, and it published a Compute Campus Policy and a National Community Compact⁴.

The commitments are set out in writing in the Compute Campus Policy and the National Community Compact⁴. The moves amount to a charm offensive to change voters’ view of data centers³. OpenAI President Greg Brockman spoke about the effort at a separate event on Wednesday³.

Why it matters to investors

The pledges follow an election in which voters overwhelmingly backed restrictions on data center construction in ballot measures across the country, with data centers losing 43-1⁶. The AI industry is scrambling to repackage a $10 trillion infrastructure buildout to appease that electorate⁶, turning to cash and concessions in an effort to rebrand AI⁶.

The response goes beyond rebranding data centers as “compute campuses.” Companies are offering communities real money, including dividends, benefits for schools or cities, environmental concessions and labor protections⁶. Those commitments add costs to data center projects^1,6.

The market and many analysts see the blue wave slowing, but not stopping, data center construction around the US⁶. Community input processes can drag on for months or years, and there is no guarantee residents will approve projects even with cost protections in place⁵.

What to watch

OpenAI’s leaders have given heavily in politics. Chief Executive Sam Altman gave $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee, and Brockman, the company’s president, gave $25 million².

The company’s commitment to pay for its own power is aimed directly at household electricity bills¹. Its compact and transparency promises target the local approval process, which can take months or years^4,5.

Other developers face the same pressure, and the industry’s broader offers of money and concessions to communities show how far companies are prepared to go^3,6.