CNBC reported on November 6, 2026, that OpenAI will keep investing in AI data centers despite midterm election opposition, with chief financial officer Sarah Friar saying the company still needs compute to meet customer demand, maintain hyperscaler relationships and raise fresh capital.
Friar spoke with Sara Eisen at the Citi TMT Leadership Summit in Pebble Beach, California. Across 41 local ballot measures in 10 states, voters backed restrictions or rejected pro-development measures in all but one; voters across the country also supported candidates pledging restrictions on data-center development. That backdrop puts local acceptance alongside OpenAI’s need for facilities to train models and serve customers.
In the full interview transcript, Friar said the election had not dramatically changed OpenAI’s position: “If the midterm means more focus on data centers and communities, we’re going to keep doing the work to get into those communities and to build trust with them.”
Community Concerns Shape the Response
Friar identified electricity costs, water use and noise as the concerns OpenAI hears when entering communities. Its approach, she said, must include listening, setting a plan and being accountable. The company has promised not to raise local electricity bills and can work with utilities to invest in the grid.
Friar described a large data-center footprint as usually requiring about two Olympic swimming pools of water, trucked in and recirculated, with most water consumption instead associated with people working at the facilities. Her Georgia examples were a 300-foot-high noise-control berm, free school meals, a park and an AI summit for small businesses.
The interview followed OpenAI’s November 5, 2026 announcement on responsible AI infrastructure. For future campuses it owns and operates, the company committed to local compacts, annual public reporting, full payment of electricity use and serving-infrastructure costs, site-level water and electricity disclosures, and limits on non-disclosure agreements with public officials.
Demand and Capital Behind the Compute Push
Friar said OpenAI’s business grew 70% quarter over quarter in the third quarter, its enterprise business doubled, 1.2 billion people use its products each week, and revenue is evenly split between consumer and enterprise. Together, those figures form the demand case she used to justify continued construction and further fundraising.
Friar confirmed that a funding round is ongoing and argued that capital would remain available for the strongest businesses, pointing to product usage as evidence of AI demand. Her approach is to raise money when she can, keeping financing alongside hyperscaler relationships and community work as part of the buildout.
Compute availability also affects product sequencing. Friar said OpenAI introduced its proactive virtual assistant in the enterprise first because business tasks can show clear value, enterprise security requirements provide a demanding test, and a compute-constrained environment forces the company to prioritize where it can maximize outcomes. The longer-term plan is to bring the assistant to its broader consumer base.
Public-market planning is also unchanged: Friar said OpenAI would continue looking at a 2027 debut and that the midterms did not alter that position.
The interview leaves OpenAI with two linked tasks: financing and securing compute for the demand Friar described, while executing community commitments that address electricity, water and noise objections. Its investment position is unchanged; the practical test is whether those local commitments are carried out as expansion continues.
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