OpenAI announced a new National Community Compact on Thursday, pledging to pay the full cost of powering its future AI compute campuses and promising local residents will not foot the electricity bill. The move came two days after voters rejected data center expansion in 40 of 41 ballot measures, a bruising election for the AI infrastructure industry.
The compact applies only to future campuses OpenAI both owns and operates. The company said it would provide financial assurances before costly grid upgrades, create water plans, publish annual progress reports, fund independent noise studies, and stop most nondisclosure agreements with public officials. Each campus would also receive its own local compact and an annual public progress report.
OpenAI separately issued a policy blueprint asking regulators and legislators to adopt similar rules industry-wide, including large-load tariffs requiring major electricity users to pay incremental grid costs, mandatory reporting, limits on officials' NDAs, and tools for governments to reclaim tax breaks when developers fail to meet commitments.
However, the national compact itself describes no penalties for noncompliance, no dispute process, and no independent verification of electricity or water figures. The ownership restriction also means partner-built facilities — such as those developed and owned by Oracle — are not automatically covered.
