Tech giants to sign AI electricity pledge next week
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Tech giants are expected to join President Trump at the White House next week to sign a pledge that they will build or buy their own electricity supplies for data centers.
Why it matters: It's the Trump administration's latest response to election-year voter angst over data centers' AI-driven electricity demands and their potential effects on rates.
- A number of the biggest tech companies have already made pledges that they say will prevent consumers from getting stuck with the energy bills for the AI buildout.
Driving the news: Trump said during Tuesday night's State of the Union address that he negotiated a "ratepayer protection pledge" with tech companies.
- He said that the companies will "have the obligation to provide for their own power needs" and touted building on-site generation.
- Trump didn't provide details Tuesday night, but White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers confirmed Wednesday that the event would be held next week.
- "President Trump is committed to ensuring American AI dominance while simultaneously lowering costs for working families," Rogers said in a statement.
Zoom in: OpenAI is among the companies that is participating in the initiative, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
- Amazon spokesman Duncan Neasham said his company will take part.
- Other companies expected include Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI and Oracle, Fox News reported.
- Microsoft President Brad Smith had said last month that the company will "pay our way" to ensure its data centers don't raise power prices.
- Smith issued a statement Wednesday calling the Trump pledge "an important step. We appreciate the administration's work to ensure that data centers don't contribute to higher electricity prices for consumers."
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters Wednesday that the event would result in a "unified announcement" on companies' cooperation.
- "What President Trump talked about last night was the bottom line: These are the dialogues, these are the objectives we have set, and we have not had any developers say, 'No, I'm not willing to do that,'" Wright said.
Context: Analysts at Jefferies said in a Wednesday note that Trump's move confirms what several companies are already doing.
- Jefferies forecast "a much more challenged outlook for existing power plants co-locating with data centers" that lack a strategy to invest directly in providing their own electricity.
The other side: Several Democratic lawmakers quickly said Trump's initiative doesn't do enough to shield people — a stance shared by some clean-energy groups.
- "Big tech companies should pay more for electricity costs, but pledges are Band-aids that avoid fixing the real problem — our electric grid is a hellscape of outdated technology and we need serious reforms to electricity markets and permitting to pull it into the 21st century," said Aliya Haq, president of the nonprofit Clean Economy Project.
