Wire reporting: (Reuters, via CNA)

OpenAI on Thursday published a policy blueprint and commitments for data centers it owns and operates, restating that it will pay the full cost of powering those sites, two days after U.S. midterm votes that went against many local data-center projects^1,3.

The company said it will seek community input, publish construction plans and refrain from nondisclosure agreements with public officials on future sites, while keeping proprietary information confidential^1,2,3. Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane said the blueprint, in the works since August, is meant to apply lessons going forward^1,3. "This will help ensure that there is a very high floor in terms of how people move forward," he said¹.

CNBC, citing Ballotpedia and additional results it gathered, said voters backed restrictions or rejected pro-development measures in all but one of 41 local ballot measures across 10 states¹. CNA, carrying Reuters, used the same Ballotpedia tally and reported Democratic gubernatorial flips in Texas, Georgia and Ohio on platforms that included pausing or tightening data-center permits³.

CNBC reported OpenAI has large projects in Georgia and Ohio and told investors in February it was targeting about $600 billion in compute spend by 2030¹. CNA's Reuters report said partners such as Oracle own much of the dedicated infrastructure, and that Lehane cited 2,500 long-term jobs at a southern Ohio site³. Unknown is how the pledges apply when partners own the sites, and whether lawmakers will write the blueprint into law^1,3.