On 5 November, two days after the US midterm elections, OpenAI published two documents: a commitment to the communities that host its data centres (National Community Compact) and a proposal for lawmakers (Compute Campus Policy Blueprint).

The commitment covers future sites that OpenAI owns and operates itself. The industry publication DCD said it was unclear whether it also covers leased capacity and capacity built with partners, which make up most of the company’s computing power. In January, the Stargate Community programme promised a local plan for every Stargate site, including those built by partners, such as the Oracle and Vantage site in Wisconsin.

What the commitment promises

Each site will get its own local agreement, residents will get a contact person and the company will report on progress every year.

OpenAI will not require public officials to sign NDAs as a condition of talks or negotiations. The exceptions are narrowly defined protections for security information, trade secrets and competitively sensitive information. Amazon said in October that it would drop similar agreements with authorities, The Verge reported.

The company promises to pay the full cost of the electricity it uses and the grid infrastructure it needs. Before major investments, it will provide financial assurances. These protect other electricity customers from costs if a project is delayed, reduced or cancelled. OpenAI will also publish site-level water and electricity use, and independent noise studies before operations begin and annually afterwards.

During peaks in demand, the data centres, which OpenAI now calls compute campuses, can cut their consumption. In Effingham County, Georgia, the agreement allows the utility Georgia Power to reduce the power it delivers to the campus by up to 1,000 megawatts. The commitment presents feeding electricity back into the grid as only a possibility. It depends on local conditions and requires on-site generation and agreements with the utility. Heise online and DCD describe it as a promise.

The commitment promises long-term investments in projects that residents choose, but presents the forms they could take only as possibilities: OpenAI could support housing or education, for example. DCD said these pledges are vaguer than the others. As examples, the company cites $4.8 million in free school meals for Effingham’s 14,000 students and a $6 million childcare commitment with SB Energy in Pike County, Ohio.

Proposals for lawmakers

Voluntary commitments are not enough, OpenAI wrote in a blog post. State regulators should require large electricity users to pay the costs they impose on the grid. Utilities, in turn, should make it easier to connect campuses that can safely cut their consumption. The terms of tax breaks should be public, and it should be possible to claw back the breaks if a developer fails to keep its promises.

Election backdrop

In exit polls, 56 per cent of voters said data centres were a crucial or major factor in their congressional vote, DCD reported. Citing the Washington Post, ITmedia reported that voters in at least 38 areas backed bans or restrictions on construction.

Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s head of global affairs, said the timing had nothing to do with the elections, Heise online reported. Lehane said the documents had been in preparation for months, but that the company still had to respond to voters’ message. OpenAI’s announcement does not mention the elections, ITmedia noted.