Responding to Trump’s “self-funded” demand? OpenAI promises to pay for power upgrades for $500 billion AI infrastructure.

OpenAI on Tuesday pledged to cover the costs of developing the energy infrastructure required for its Stargate data centers, ensuring its operations will not drive up local residents’ electricity bills. This statement comes as U.S. President Trump last week called on big tech companies to pay their own way when building data centers. The maker of ChatGPT said it would collaborate with host communities to tailor solutions according to local needs, including paying extra grid infrastructure costs or ensuring its own energy supply. Stargate is a multi-year AI infrastructure construction initiative valued at $500 billion, jointly advanced by OpenAI and its partners SoftBank and Oracle. OpenAI’s pledge follows a similar initiative announced by Microsoft last week. Although the Trump administration supports data center investment to spur artificial intelligence growth, rising energy prices are drawing strong opposition from residents, consumer groups, and political leaders. Last Friday, Trump and several governors from Northeastern states called on the country's largest grid operator to hold an emergency auction, forcing tech companies to bear the cost of building new power plants. This statement is significant for the AI industry, as energy access has become a major bottleneck for AI’s growth. Multiple tech companies are directly investing in power infrastructure to support the expansion of data center construction. ## Pledge Not to Raise Local Electricity Prices In a blog post published Tuesday, OpenAI stated clearly: > In all our Stargate community initiatives, we pledge to pay for energy costs ourselves, ensuring our operations will not increase your electricity prices. According to Bloomberg, the company will work with host communities and take different measures based on specific situations. **These may include paying additional infrastructure costs to support the local grid, or ensuring energy supply independently.** OpenAI also said that Microsoft’s previously announced community AI commitment would apply to the AI campuses it builds for OpenAI workloads. ## Stargate Project Spans Multiple States Announced a year ago, the Stargate project aims to build $500 billion worth of infrastructure for AI workloads, involving OpenAI and its partners SoftBank Group and Oracle. The project was first announced in January 2025 with Trump’s support. Its first site is a large data center in Abilene, Texas, developed by Oracle and jointly built with development partner Crusoe. Other sites under development are in Texas, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Michigan. At the Wisconsin site, OpenAI said it is working with Oracle and Vantage Data Centers, coordinating with WEC Energy Group to develop new energy generation and capacity, including solar and battery storage, and designing dedicated rates to protect other customers from price increases. ## Industry Faces Energy Bottlenecks As energy access becomes a key constraint for AI’s growth, multiple tech companies are directly investing in power infrastructure to support larger-scale and more numerous data centers. Last week, Microsoft announced similar measures aiming to reduce water usage at its U.S. data centers and minimize the potential spike in electricity prices for local communities. Microsoft said it would pay utility rates sufficient to cover its electricity consumption and partner with local utilities to expand supply based on data center needs. Risk Warning and Disclaimer The market entails risks, and investments require caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account the unique investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of any particular user. Users should consider whether any views, opinions, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their circumstances. You invest based on this at your own risk.