OpenAI publishes community compact and policy blueprint for its compute campuses

Verified against OpenAI’s post Setting a new standard for responsible AI infrastructure (dated November 5, 2026): OpenAI published two documents, a National Community Compact and a Compute Campus Policy Blueprint. A compute campus here means a site built to host large-scale data centers.

The compact: OpenAI’s commitments to host communities
The compact sets out what communities can expect at future compute campuses that OpenAI owns and operates. Each such campus will have its own local compact: OpenAI says it will engage residents early enough for their input to shape project plans, give them a local point of contact for the life of the campus, and report publicly each year. Compacts will reflect local priorities but share a common set of commitments:

• Pay its own way on energy and infrastructure: pay the full cost of the electricity it uses and the infrastructure needed to serve it, and provide financial assurances before major spending begins so other customers are protected if a project is delayed, reduced, or canceled.
• Protect local resources and report impact: a water plan for each campus, prioritizing closed-loop or low-water cooling; publish site-level water and electricity use; publish construction plans and independent noise studies before operations begin and annually afterward. No non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with public officials, apart from narrow protections for legitimate security information, trade secrets, or competitively sensitive information.
• Create opportunities for local workers and businesses: publish expected jobs, work with unions and training providers to prepare residents, report annually on hiring and apprenticeships, and make sustained investments in priorities residents help select.

Examples given: in Effingham County, Georgia, residents helped shape a $4.8 million grant for free school meals for all 14,000 students in the county; in Pike County, Ohio, families identified childcare as a priority, leading to a joint $6 million commitment from OpenAI and SB Energy.

The blueprint: proposals for policymakers
OpenAI says voluntary company commitments are a starting point, and the blueprint asks federal, state, and local policymakers to set clear rules for the industry, including:

• State utility commissions should require large electricity customers to cover the costs they add to the grid and protect other customers if a project falls through; utilities should make it easier to connect campuses that can safely cut demand when power is scarce. For example, OpenAI’s agreement with Georgia Power for the planned Effingham County campus lets the utility reduce delivered power by up to 1,000 megawatts during periods of high demand.
• Congress can speed up transmission upgrades and restore and expand tax incentives for clean electricity.
• Public reporting on water, energy, noise, and hiring, and narrow limits on when developers can require public officials to sign NDAs.
• When governments offer tax incentives, terms should be public, with measurable commitments and a way to recover benefits if a developer falls short.
• Developers can share purchasing plans early so local suppliers can compete; employers, building trades unions, and community colleges can use hiring forecasts to train residents.

Context
OpenAI says this builds on the Stargate Community commitments it announced in January and its later commitments in Georgia and Ohio. These are OpenAI’s commitments and policy proposals; the blueprint’s rules would take effect only if governments adopt them.

• Setting a new standard for responsible AI infrastructure