OpenAI has announced new measures to improve relations with communities hosting its data centers, as growing public opposition and recent election results raise questions about the future of the artificial intelligence industry’s infrastructure expansion.
The company said, that it would stop using non-disclosure agreements with public officials during discussions over potential data center locations. It will also provide local residents with access to construction plans and information about expected traffic, noise and lighting impacts.
The move follows significant Democratic victories in this week’s U.S. midterm elections, which have been viewed as a setback for technology companies seeking to expand data center operations across the country.
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According to Reuters, Democrats won governorships in Texas, Georgia and Ohio with candidates who had pledged to pause new data center permits and impose stricter construction regulations. Of 41 data center-related ballot measures decided during the elections, all but one went against data centers, according to Ballotpedia.
OpenAI said the new policies, which have been in development since August, are intended to build trust with local communities and demonstrate the economic benefits of hosting large-scale computing facilities.
Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, said the company would make the potential effects of construction more transparent while continuing to protect proprietary business information. Lehane also argued that data centers could generate sustained employment because their hardware would need to be upgraded every three to five years.
“These projects are not the types of data centers that people have historically thought about, which are some version of a black box in a pasture that did very little in terms of the economic utility for the communities they were in,” he told reporters.
One OpenAI facility planned in southern Ohio is expected to generate 2,500 long-term jobs, with an average annual salary of $80,000, Lehane said. The company also pointed to the role of ongoing equipment upgrades in creating employment beyond the initial construction phase.
OpenAI’s announcement comes as opposition to data center development becomes a growing political and economic issue in the United States.
Local concerns have centered on electricity consumption, water use, land development, noise and the strain that large facilities could place on community infrastructure.
The election results have also raised concerns among investors. Shares of data center operators and power companies fell Wednesday as investors anticipated tougher permitting requirements, higher costs and potential delays to construction projects.
OpenAI President Greg Brockman acknowledged the need for the industry to improve its communication with communities. “We need to do a better job of really communicating to people, to local communities, about why data centers can be beneficial to them,” Brockman said at a separate event Wednesday.
The company’s announcement also comes against the backdrop of its growing political engagement in Washington. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman donated $1 million to President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, while Brockman personally contributed $25 million to a Trump-aligned super PAC last year, Reuters reported.
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Lehane, who previously served in senior communications and legal roles during the Clinton administration and as press secretary to former Vice President Al Gore, pointed to his Democratic Party experience when asked how OpenAI would address skepticism among Democratic officials.
OpenAI’s latest measures signal an effort to make community engagement a more central part of its data center expansion strategy as political resistance to the AI infrastructure boom grows.