Openai Pledges More Transparency For Data Center Communities
OpenAI says it will cover power costs, disclose resource use and avoid nondisclosure agreements with public officials on data center projects.
OpenAI has announced new commitments for communities hosting its data centers, promising to cover the electricity costs of its facilities, disclose their resource use and stop using nondisclosure agreements with public officials. The announcement follows US midterm elections in which voters opposed data center expansion, according to The Verge and Engadget.
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Power and water commitments
OpenAI says it will pay the full cost of the electricity its facilities use, as well as the infrastructure that power providers need to serve them. Engadget reports that a central concern for communities is whether the cost of major grid upgrades could otherwise be passed to residents and local businesses. OpenAI says its operations should not raise nearby communities’ electricity costs.
The company also plans to develop a water plan for communities where it builds facilities. According to Engadget, OpenAI will prioritize closed-loop or low-water cooling systems. Closed-loop systems circulate water to remove heat rather than regularly consuming and replacing it. OpenAI says it will publish water and electricity use for each site.
Public discussions and local agreements
OpenAI says it will no longer use nondisclosure agreements with public officials for data center projects. The Verge notes that such agreements have drawn scrutiny for keeping discussions between developers and local governments out of public view. OpenAI will still allow narrow protections for security information, trade secrets and proprietary or competitively sensitive information, according to The Verge.
Engadget reports that OpenAI has published a National Community Compact describing what communities can expect from future data centers. It has also released a Compute Campus Policy Blueprint proposing ways to give communities a voice and protect them from new costs. The Verge says each future compute campus that OpenAI owns and operates will have a local compact incorporating the commitments and reflecting local priorities.
Jobs and the election context
OpenAI says it will publish the jobs it expects its projects to create and report on hiring, according to The Verge. Engadget also reports a pledge to create opportunities for local workers and businesses. Those commitments could give job seekers and employers in US host communities a clearer view of planned hiring, though the reports do not specify job totals.
Both outlets connect the announcement to voter opposition to data centers in this week’s midterms. Engadget, citing Bloomberg, says OpenAI stated that it had worked on the commitments for months and planned them before the election results. The reports do not establish how much the vote influenced the final announcement.
Sources
This story was compiled by AI from the reports below. Read the originals for the full details.