# OpenAI Publishes Its Data Centre Community Compact and Asks Lawmakers to Make It Law; the AI 'Speed Limits' Proposal Is Still to Come Times of AI Desk · 2026-11-02 · Policy [https://timesof.ai/2026/11/openai-post-midterm-policy-push-speed-limits-ai-compute-campuses](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/openai-post-midterm-policy-push-speed-limits-ai-compute-campuses) > Updated November 5: OpenAI has published a National Community Compact for future campuses it owns and operates, pledging to pay the full cost of its power and grid upgrades, publish water, electricity and noise data, and stop using NDAs with public officials, plus a policy blueprint asking regulators and Congress to write similar rules. It came two days after midterm voters rejected data centre measures. The mandatory safeguards for powerful AI that chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane previewed to Axios have not yet been published. **Updated November 5, 2026:** OpenAI has published the data centre half of the plan Chris Lehane described to Axios. The original reporting below is unchanged. ## November 5: The compact and blueprint are out; "speed limits" are not On **Thursday, November 5**, OpenAI published a **National Community Compact** and a **Compute Campus Policy Blueprint**. The compact covers future compute campuses that OpenAI itself owns and operates, each of which will get its own local compact with a common set of commitments: - **Power costs.** OpenAI says it will pay the full cost of the electricity it uses and the infrastructure needed to serve it, and provide financial assurances before major spending so other customers are protected if a project is delayed, cut or cancelled. - **Local impact.** A water plan for each campus prioritising closed-loop or low-water cooling, published site-level water and electricity use, and construction plans and independent noise studies before operations begin and every year after. - **No NDAs with officials.** OpenAI will not use non-disclosure agreements with public officials, apart from narrow protections for security information, trade secrets and competitively sensitive data. - **Jobs.** Published hiring expectations, work with unions and training providers, and annual reporting on hiring and apprenticeships. The blueprint asks policymakers to turn similar rules into law. It says state utility commissions should make large electricity customers cover the grid costs they add, that utilities should connect campuses faster if they can cut demand when power is short, citing its [Georgia Power arrangement](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/openai-grid-protectors-georgia-1000-mw-demand-response) for up to 1,000 megawatts, and that tax incentives should be public with a way to claw them back. The timing follows the election. Out of 41 local data centre ballot measures across 10 states, voters backed restrictions or rejected pro-development measures in all but one, CNBC reported, citing Ballotpedia. Lehane told reporters the blueprint had been "in the works since August" and that he had met dozens of lawmakers and candidates. Most of OpenAI's capacity is built and owned by partners such as Oracle, Reuters noted, so the compact does not cover those sites. ### Limits of the November 5 update - The mandatory safeguards for powerful AI systems that Lehane called "speed limits" are not in either document; their content is still unknown. - The compact applies only to campuses OpenAI owns and operates, not to partner-built capacity dedicated to it. - The commitments are voluntary, and OpenAI has not said how outsiders can verify the annual reports. The company building some of the largest AI systems now says it wants mandatory limits on them, and it is pairing that ask with a campaign to make its own data centres easier to approve. OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehane, told Axios that right after Tuesday's midterm elections the company will start a policy and PR push built on "speed limits" for the most powerful AI systems, new commitments to the communities that host its data centres, and a new name for those sites: "AI compute campuses." The plans come from one interview. OpenAI has not published the proposals, so what "mandatory" covers, and who would enforce it, is not yet known. ## What OpenAI says it will propose Axios lists four parts, all described by Lehane: - **Speed limits.** OpenAI plans to unveil "new ideas for mandatory safeguards for the most powerful AI systems" and a "more aggressive congressional drive," Axios reports. "You're going to see us talk more and more about the concept of speed limits," Lehane said. - **Data centres.** OpenAI will offer community compacts and propose state legislation that gives residents "a meaningful say" in how projects are built and what benefits they receive, according to Axios. It will argue that its infrastructure should be called "AI compute campuses" rather than data centres, and points to the project it is developing in Pike County, Ohio. - **Economic opportunity.** Ideas on worker support, training and small-business formation, which Axios describes only in general terms. - **International cooperation.** A push for the US to shape global AI standards. The push starts in the lame-duck session of Congress, which opens November 9, Axios says. TechCrunch relayed the report the same day. ## The trade The two halves pull in different directions. Mandatory safeguards would bind OpenAI's own frontier work; the data-centre measures aim to lower local resistance to the sites that work depends on. Lehane called the local debate "good and healthy," telling Axios: "Communities should hold companies responsible and accountable so they really and truly get a transformative benefit from these projects." OpenAI does not frame it that way; Axios describes the aim as sending the message that AI is built for people. The data-centre pitch follows similar moves by others. TechCrunch notes that the local debate has already pushed Amazon and Microsoft to say they will stop using nondisclosure agreements with local governments; Amazon set out its [community programme and NDA change](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/amazon-built-together-data-centers) in October. The timing is political. Axios writes that Democrats are likely to win the House on Tuesday and that tech companies are preparing for closer scrutiny; it reports that Meta is also strengthening ties with Democrats. Lehane called the midterms "a bit of a movie trailer for what you're going to see in 2028," when he expects AI to be "the issue." The industry is already spending in this election through [rival AI super PACs](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/ai-super-pacs-78m-midterms-split). Federal proposals already exist for OpenAI's push to land on, including the [Great American AI Act discussion draft](https://timesof.ai/2026/06/great-american-ai-act-discussion-draft-obernolte-trahan) from June, which would put binding obligations on large frontier developers. ## Limits - Everything here comes from Lehane's interview with Axios. OpenAI has published no proposal text, so the scope of "mandatory safeguards" and the content of the state bill are unknown. - Axios's forecast of a Democratic House is its own assessment, not a result. - Axios discloses a content licensing and technology agreement with OpenAI. TechCrunch's article relays Axios and is not independent reporting. ## Sources - [Axios: Behind the Curtain: OpenAI's post-election power play (November 1, 2026)](https://www.axios.com/2026/11/01/scoop-openai-post-midterm-policy) - [TechCrunch: OpenAI might rebrand its data centers as 'AI compute campuses' (November 1, 2026)](https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/01/openai-might-rebrand-its-data-centers-as-ai-compute-campuses/) - [OpenAI: Setting a new standard for responsible AI infrastructure (November 5, 2026)](https://openai.com/index/setting-new-standard-responsible-ai-infrastructure/) - [CNBC: OpenAI pledges to halt NDAs in new data center policy proposal after election rebuke (November 5, 2026)](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/05/openai-to-pay-for-data-center-power-after-election-shows-ai-concern.html) - [Reuters via Investing.com: OpenAI kicks off charm offensive to change voters' view of data centers (November 5, 2026)](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/openai-kicks-off-charm-offensive-to-change-voters-view-of-data-centers-5002831)