OpenAI to rebrand data centers as 'AI compute campuses'
Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, told Axios the company will push new policy proposals after the November 3 US midterms.
Summary
OpenAI plans a policy and public-relations push right after Tuesday's US midterm elections, including an effort to rename data centers as AI compute campuses, Axios reported on November 1. The campaign targets a Washington that Axios expects to be tougher on AI companies after two years of a friendly White House, with Democrats likely to win the House. OpenAI also wants to help shape the AI debate for the 2028 presidential contenders expected to begin emerging on Wednesday.
Chris Lehane, OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, told Axios the company would rather inform the moment through the power of ideas than chase it. He called Tuesday's vote a portal from one era to the next and a preview of 2028, when he expects AI to be the central issue. Lehane and his team have been collecting policy proposals since August, some new and some repackaged. They include AI speed limits, ways to help people see AI as empowering in daily life, and a US role in setting global standards.
Lehane called the public argument over data centers good and healthy, and said communities should hold companies accountable so they truly benefit from these projects. Data centers have become a source of local conflict. The Guardian reported in October that an xAI subsidiary is offering to buy homes near its turbine plant in Southaven, Mississippi, if owners stay out of a noise lawsuit. OpenAI is also raising money in a weaker market. The Financial Times reported that the company cut its fundraising target by 10 billion dollars, to about 20 billion at a 1.25 trillion dollar valuation.
The push begins with Congress's lame-duck session, which opens November 9, ahead of new members being sworn in on January 3.
OpenAI will start a policy and public-relations push right after Tuesday’s US midterm elections, including an effort to rebrand data centers as “AI compute campuses,” Axios reported on November 1.
The campaign is aimed at a Washington that Axios expects to be harsher on AI companies after two years of a friendly White House, with Democrats likely to win the House. OpenAI also wants to help frame the AI debate for the field of 2028 presidential contenders expected to start forming on Wednesday.
“You can try to chase the moment, or seek to inform the moment via the power of ideas,” Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, told Axios. He called Tuesday’s vote an “electoral portal from one era to the next” and “a bit of a movie trailer for what you’re going to see in 2028,” when he expects AI to be “the issue.”
Lehane and his team have been stockpiling policy proposals since August, some new and some repackaged. Among those he discussed are AI “speed limits,” ways to help people see AI as empowering them in their daily lives, and a US role in developing global standards.
Lehane described the public argument over data centers as “good and healthy.” “Communities should hold companies responsible and accountable so they really and truly get a transformative benefit from these projects,” he said.
Data centers have become a source of local conflict. An xAI subsidiary is offering to buy homes near its turbine plant in Southaven, Mississippi, if owners stay out of a noise lawsuit, The Guardian reported in October. OpenAI is also raising money in a weaker market: the Financial Times reported on October 31 that the company cut its fundraising target by $10 billion, to about $20 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation.
The push begins in the lame-duck session of Congress, which opens on November 9, ahead of the swearing-in of new members and senators on January 3.