OpenAI abandons secrecy agreements for future data centres

OpenAI has pledged to stop using broad confidentiality agreements with public officials negotiating data centre projects, as electoral victories for Democrats intensify scrutiny of artificial intelligence infrastructure across the United States.

The ChatGPT developer unveiled a National Community Compact on Thursday, promising greater disclosure of electricity consumption, water use, construction disruption and employment at future computing campuses it owns and operates. The commitments follow Tuesday’s midterm elections, when voters in numerous communities supported restrictions on data centre development.

OpenAI said it would no longer require non-disclosure agreements from public officials, except for narrowly defined protections involving security, trade secrets and commercially sensitive information. Such agreements have drawn criticism for preventing residents from examining proposed developments before crucial planning decisions are made.

The company also undertook to pay the full cost of electricity consumed by its facilities and the infrastructure needed to supply them. Financial assurances would be provided before substantial spending begins, protecting other electricity customers if projects are delayed, scaled back or cancelled.

These promises address complaints that large computing installations could raise household electricity bills while placing additional demands on local power networks. OpenAI’s announcement does not establish that all such costs have already been eliminated, and the commitments are limited to campuses under its ownership and operation.

Each qualifying campus will have a locally negotiated compact, with residents invited to influence plans early in development. OpenAI said it would provide a continuing community contact and publish annual assessments of its performance against the commitments.

Water management will also receive greater attention. The company intends to prepare a plan for each campus, favour closed-loop or low-water cooling systems and disclose site-specific electricity and water consumption. Construction plans and independent noise studies will be published before operations start, followed by annual assessments.

The initiative emerged against a sharply changed political backdrop. The policies were being developed before the vote, meaning the election results accelerated attention to concerns that the company had already been addressing. Democratic candidates campaigning on tighter oversight of data centres won prominent contests, while local ballot measures demonstrated opposition to projects perceived as imposing environmental and financial burdens without sufficient consultation.

OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehane, has argued that communities need a clearer understanding of the economic benefits associated with computing infrastructure. The company maintains that these facilities generate continuing employment because servers and other equipment require replacement and upgrading over time.

Its compact promises to publish projected job numbers, work with trade unions and training organisations, and disclose annual figures for recruitment and apprenticeships. Local businesses would also receive opportunities to compete for contracts, while residents would help identify priorities for community investment. OpenAI said its annual disclosures would allow communities to compare promised opportunities with actual hiring outcomes rather than relying solely on forecasts made during project approval.

Alongside its voluntary commitments, OpenAI released a Compute Campus Policy Blueprint urging federal, state and local authorities to establish comparable requirements across the industry. It proposed that utility regulators make large electricity users pay for additional grid costs and protect other customers against abandoned projects.

The blueprint also recommends public disclosure of tax incentives offered to developers, measurable obligations attached to those incentives and mechanisms to recover benefits when companies fail to deliver. It calls for reporting on environmental effects and hiring, alongside restrictions on confidentiality agreements involving public authorities.

OpenAI cited an arrangement with Georgia Power at its planned Effingham County campus that permits electricity deliveries to be reduced by as much as 1,000 megawatts during periods of high demand. Such flexibility could help utilities manage pressure on their networks, although implementation depends on individual agreements.

The company pointed to community initiatives already developed around its projects. Residents in Effingham County helped shape a $4.8 million grant supporting free school meals for approximately 14,000 pupils. In Pike County, Ohio, OpenAI and SB Energy jointly committed $6 million towards childcare provision.

The announcement does not automatically extend the same obligations to data centres owned by OpenAI’s infrastructure partners. That distinction matters because substantial computing capacity is being developed through arrangements with other technology and energy companies, leaving the application of similar safeguards to those operators unresolved under the new framework. Separately, Amazon announced in October that it would stop requiring confidentiality agreements from government agencies involved in its data centre projects.