Big Tech to meet Trump at White House to sign data center pledge
Major tech companies will meet President Donald Trump at the White House next week to sign a pledge to provide their own power for AI data centers.
Amazon, Google, Meta, MicrosoftxAI, Seer A White House official confirmed to CNBC on Wednesday that OpenAI will sign the agreement at the March 4 meeting.
“Under this bold initiative, these massive companies will build, bring in or purchase their own power supplies for new AI data centers, ensuring Americans’ electric bills don’t rise as demand increases,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told CNBC.
Fox News first reported the development.
Trump said in his State of the Union address on Tuesday that he had received such a commitment from the technology sector, but did not elaborate on what the agreement included.
“We are telling big tech companies that they have an obligation to meet their own energy needs,” the president said. “They can build their own power plants as part of their factories so that no one’s prices go up.”
Data centers face opposition in communities across the US; People attribute the rising electricity bills to the large electricity consumption of the facilities.
The Trump administration has closely embraced the AI industry as an engine of economic growth and a pillar of U.S. national security. It’s an alliance that poses political risks for the White House ahead of the midterm elections.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill and Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger defeated their Republican opponents in landslide elections last November by campaigning against rising electricity prices.
The Trump administration has warned tech companies that they risk backlash if the public believes their data centers are increasing energy costs, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday.
“We want to see data centers developed,” Wright told reporters in a phone call. “We want to see them deployed quickly. We want to see communities welcome them, but to do that requires up-front investments in the additional grid infrastructure needed.”
