OpenAI wants to change the name ‘data centres’ to make people hate them less
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.
Already a member?
Log in
OpenAI says it will give data centres a new name, as part of a broad plan to make people hate them less.
The company is launching a policy and PR push to respond to the growing backlash against AI, Axios reported. It comes amid strong pushback from the public against artificial intelligence, which is often focused particularly on data centres, and a growing reflection of those concerns by lawmakers in the US and elsewhere.
OpenAI’s new effort is being launched amid the midterms in the US, which is widely expected to see the Democrats win the House of Representatives, as well as the beginnings of the 2028 campaign for President that will start in earnest after those elections.
The ChatGPT maker hopes to ensure that it does not lose out from those changes, especially given the very friendly approach that Donald Trump’s White House has taken on AI regulation. OpenAI – as well as other big tech companies, such as Meta – has been close to Mr Trump since he was elected the second time, but the industry is fearful that a change of power in the US could bring new scrutiny and pressure.
Perhaps the most notable of OpenAI’s plans is to try and rebrand “data centres” as “AI compute campuses”. Data centres have become a particular cause of worry among the public, so much that some candidates have fought midterms on their future, and the political concern is reflected in both Republican and Democrat politicians.
By renaming the facilities, OpenAI hopes that it is able to stress the positive changes that they can bring to communities. “Communities should hold companies responsible and accountable so they really and truly get a transformative benefit from these projects,” OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane told Axios.
The company has chosen the rebrand knowing that it will be provocative, the report suggested. But it hopes that it will shock people enough to move the conversation away from the various complaints that have sprung up in response to the large server farms, including that they are loud, disruptive and use up water.
OpenAI will also encourage discussion of “speed limits”, or mandatory safeguards to limit how quickly companies are able to develop new systems, the report said. It will also stress the economic benefits of the technology and the importance in international co-operation in developing regulation of AI, Axios reported.
