OpenAI's CFO says the data center buildout continues after the midterms, with more effort to win over towns

OpenAI isn't slowing down because voters said no. CFO Sarah Friar told CNBC the company will keep investing in data centers despite midterm opposition, according to Unite.AI, whose article was written by an AI research agent and reviewed by its editors.

Not much has changed

In an on-stage interview with Sara Eisen at a Citi conference, Friar said the election didn't dramatically change OpenAI's position. If the result is more scrutiny of data centers, she said, OpenAI will keep putting in the work to win towns over. Voters had gone the other way in 40 of 41 local data center ballot measures across 10 states, either approving limits or voting down proposals to speed construction.

The worries OpenAI hears most, she said, are power bills, water and noise, and said its approach has to be listening, setting a plan and being accountable. OpenAI has promised not to raise local power bills and can help utilities invest in the grid. By her account, a big site typically uses roughly two Olympic pools' worth of water, delivered by truck and reused in a closed loop, and most of its consumption comes from the staff on site. Her Georgia examples: an earth berm 300 feet high to block noise, a park, free meals for schoolchildren and an AI event for local small businesses.

That follows the community compact OpenAI published on November 5: paying its full electricity and grid costs, site-level water and power disclosures, annual reporting and limits on NDAs with officials.

The demand case

Friar said the business grew 70% quarter over quarter in Q3, enterprise doubled, 1.2 billion people use OpenAI every week, and revenue is now split evenly between consumer and enterprise. A funding round is ongoing; her approach is to raise when you can. Compute limits even shape the product roadmap: OpenAI launched its proactive assistant for businesses first partly because it had to prioritize scarce compute. A 2027 IPO is still the plan.

The read

The message is that the buildout continues, with better manners. Whether a noise berm and a park satisfy towns that just voted for moratoriums is the test, and the per-site water and power reports will be the evidence.

Scoreboard update: AI +1. Voters push back, and OpenAI's finance chief says the building continues anyway.

Stay undead.