OpenAI says AI data centers will 'pay our own way' in a new post-election pledge - Yahoo Finance
By Google News AI ·
The political winds have changed — and so have AI companies.
OpenAI (OPAI.PVT), the frontier lab behind ChatGPT, announced a series of policy commitments on Thursday, including a ban on nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) with local government officials, in an effort to improve community relations and share the economic gains of AI.
The policy blueprint and social commitments arrived just days after a pivotal election in which Democrats secured victories across the country and voters in dozens of jurisdictions decided to restrict or end new data center construction.
Investors are still wrestling with the implications of the political upheaval. Stocks plunged on Thursday as investors abandoned AI and chip stocks, unwinding what had been one of the year's most popular trades.
That's all important context for understanding OpenAI's new commitments. And it highlights the shifting power not only in Washington, but between AI companies and the communities in which they operate.
OpenAI said that for every future compute campus it owns, the company will work with local governments to shape policies and maintain accountability. OpenAI pledged to "pay our own way on energy and infrastructure" to cover the full cost of electricity it uses, develop a water plan and noise study for each of its sites, exclude nondisclosure agreements, and make sustained investments in projects that residents select.
After the resounding midterm results, Wall Street analysts are projecting a more restrictive regulatory environment. New Democratic governors set to take power in Texas and Georgia, for instance, have pledged to pause new data center construction in reaction to public outcry.
In a note on Thursday about the midterms and the impacts on data centers, Jefferies analysts wrote…
Originally published by Google News AI
