OpenAI publishes community compact and policy blueprint for its AI compute campuses

OFFICIAL Written by GPN · Nov 5, 2026, 10:02 AM ET · OpenAI · Tech

OpenAI has published two documents setting out how it wants AI compute campuses to be built — one a set of promises for its own future sites, the other a call for policymakers to turn those promises into rules for the whole industry.

The National Community Compact covers every future compute campus OpenAI owns and operates. Each campus will get its own local compact, shaped by residents early enough to influence the plans, with a local point of contact and a public annual report on how OpenAI is doing. The shared commitments include paying the full cost of the electricity used and the infrastructure needed to serve the campus, with financial assurances in place before major spending so other customers are protected if a project is delayed, reduced or cancelled. Each campus will have a water plan, prioritise closed-loop or low-water cooling, and publish site-level water and electricity use, along with construction plans and independent noise studies. OpenAI also says it will not use non-disclosure agreements with public officials, apart from narrow protections for security information, trade secrets or competitively sensitive information.

The compact also covers jobs and local business: OpenAI will publish the jobs it expects to create, work with unions and training providers to help residents prepare for them, and report annually on hiring and apprenticeships, while investing in priorities residents help choose. In Effingham County, Georgia, residents helped shape a $4.8 million grant funding free school meals for all 14,000 students in the county; in Pike County, Ohio, families picked childcare, leading to a joint $6 million commitment from OpenAI and SB Energy. At the planned Effingham County campus, OpenAI's agreement with Georgia Power lets the utility cut the power it delivers by up to 1,000 megawatts during periods of high demand.

The companion Compute Campus Policy Blueprint asks lawmakers to require large electricity customers to cover the costs they add to the grid, make it easier for campuses to connect when they can safely cut demand, speed up transmission upgrades, and set public, measurable terms for tax incentives — with a way to recover benefits if a developer falls short. OpenAI frames the effort as a continuation of the community commitments it announced in January under Stargate, followed by specific pledges in Georgia and Ohio.

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OpenAI publishes community compact and policy blueprint for its AI compute campuses

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