OpenAI CFO Says Data Center Spending Will Continue After Midterms

OpenAI will keep investing in the computing capacity behind its artificial intelligence models and services, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said Friday, while noting the election results had not dramatically changed the company’s plans.

At the Citi TMT Leadership Summit in Pebble Beach, California, Friar tied continued spending to customer demand. “When I think about the midterms, I need to keep thinking about how do we keep investing to meet that customer demand,” she said. She pointed to fundraising and relationships with hyperscalers — large technology companies that operate cloud platforms — as part of the infrastructure effort.

Voters approved restrictions or rejected measures favoring data center development in all but one of 41 local ballot measures across 10 states. Public concerns have included environmental effects, utility bills and potential job losses.

OpenAI uses data centers to train its models and serve customers. Friar said the election outcomes had not materially altered the company’s plans. She also said OpenAI would continue working with communities to build trust as attention to data centers grows.

On Nov. 5, OpenAI published a policy blueprint describing commitments for facilities it owns and operates. The package restated its pledge to cover power costs and detailed plans for community input and construction transparency. OpenAI also pledged to avoid nondisclosure agreements with public officials and urged policymakers to make similar commitments legally binding.

Investors have grown more skeptical of the AI trade amid higher borrowing costs, concerns about rising debt and public opposition. The Nasdaq had its sharpest decline in 19 months Thursday, with chipmakers and neocloud firms tied to AI infrastructure among the hardest hit; those stocks recovered some ground Friday.

Friar said OpenAI would continue exploring a 2027 public listing after the company confidentially filed a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June.