OpenAI Swears Off Secret Data Center Deals After Voters Torch AI Buildout

OpenAI promised to stop striking secret deals with local officials days after voters rejected data centers at the polls.

The frontier AI lab emphasized its transparency pledge Thursday, sharing a “Policy Blueprint” which includes intentions to avoid nondisclosure agreements, publicly share construction plans, seek community feedback and bear the cost of its data center infrastructure, CNBC reported. The announcement follows voters’ passing bans and other restrictions on data center construction in nearly 40 communities.

NDAs should not be mandatory for these projects because they “keep [officials] from sharing essential information,” and there should only be few, narrow exceptions to protect sensitive information, the company states in its blueprint.

The company said it terminated its NDAs in Effingham County, Georgia, in July, according to the blueprint. Residents of Effingham County sued their local officials in September due to the county’s Industrial Development Authority’s secret deal with OpenAI, WTOC reported.

“What we’re doing with this blueprint is really laying out the best lessons that we have learned and committing to applying them as they go forward,” OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane said in a Wednesday briefing, CNBC reported. “This will help ensure that there is a very high floor in terms of how people move forward.”

The commitments apply to the company’s future data center projects, according to OpenAI’s announcement.

Similarly, Anthropic committed to covering its data center electricity costs on Feb. 11, according to a company blog post.

One AI safety group said the pledge shows voters’ pushback to data centers is affecting change.

“On Tuesday, American voters sent a powerful message to Washington, overwhelmingly rejecting the consequences of data centers that have been imposed on them by big tech: skyrocketing utility bills, corruption and secrecy around tax breaks and NDAs, fears of job loss, and environmental impacts,” Alliance for Secure AI CEO Brendan Steinhauser told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This is a step in the right direction and a sign that OpenAI and the other companies are reading the room – you can no longer make secret backroom deals; you have to pay your own way and invest in local communities.”