THE CRUNCH
OpenAI has launched a charm offensive after US voters overwhelmingly rejected new data centres in November's midterm elections, where 40 of 41 local ballot measures against new facilities passed. The company's National Community Compact and Policy Blueprint set out voluntary commitments for future sites and call on lawmakers to make such rules binding across the industry. The pledges apply only to sites OpenAI owns and operates itself, which leaves out a large share of its infrastructure built and held by partners such as Oracle.
At its own sites, OpenAI says it will stop requiring nondisclosure agreements during negotiations with local authorities, though trade secrets, security concerns and competitively sensitive information remain exempt. It also promises to cover the full cost of electricity and grid upgrades, throttle consumption during peak hours, and disclose construction plans, noise studies and water usage data.
Policy chief Chris Lehane is pitching economic benefits, telling Reuters the facilities will not be a black box because regular hardware upgrades would create permanent jobs, including 2,500 positions in Ohio. OpenAI also points to local payments such as $4.8 million for school lunches in Georgia, a modest sum against planned project costs of over $30 billion in that state.
The announcement came two days after an election that doubled as a rebuke of the tech industry. Democrats won governor's seats in key infrastructure states including Texas, Georgia and Ohio, and Texas' new governor Gina Hinojosa has already called for an immediate moratorium on new facilities. The research group Data Center Watch says 45 projects worth $88 billion were already stalled by local opposition in Q2 2026, and Lehane acknowledged OpenAI projects could face delays too.
Markets split on the results: specialised data centre operators such as Hut 8, IREN and Core Scientific fell sharply on fears of tighter permitting, while Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet rallied, with investors expecting a slower buildout to curb infrastructure spending and favour incumbents with existing capacity.