OpenAI pledges to pay power costs at campuses it owns and operates

OpenAI's November 5th compact promises early resident input, annual reports and limits on NDAs with public officials amid ballot-box opposition to AI data centers.

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Primary source: openai.com

Why it matters

Host communities are gaining leverage over AI infrastructure siting, and power costs, water use, NDAs and local hiring are becoming conditions developers must price into new campuses. OpenAI's compact covers only its own future owned sites, so its parallel push for binding industry rules determines whether rivals face the same terms.

At night, people stand inside a lit house beside a street, with utility poles, a parked pickup, industrial buildings, and an “RW” sign.

OpenAI published a National Community Compact and a Compute Campus Policy Blueprint on November 5th, 2026, setting terms for future campuses it owns and operates and proposing rules for the wider industry.…

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