OpenAI pledges to pay for data center power after election highlights AI concerns; CNBC, November 5, 2026

 Ashley Capoot, CNBC ; OpenAI pledges to pay for data center power after election highlights AI concerns

"OpenAI reaffirmed its promise to pay the full cost of powering data centers as part of a series of commitments the company published Thursday, two days after voters at the polls roundly rejected the rapid expansion of AI.

The artificial intelligence company said in its commitments that for data centers it owns and operates, it will solicit community input, publish construction plans and stay away from use of non-disclosure agreements with public officials. Additionally, in a policy blueprint, OpenAI encouraged policymakers to enact similar commitments as laws. 

“What we’re doing with this blueprint is really laying out the best lessons that we have learned and committing to applying them as they go forward,” OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane told reporters during a Wednesday briefing. “This will help ensure that there is a very high floor in terms of how people move forward.”

On Tuesday, Americans issued a stinging rebuke of data centers at the polls. Out of 41 local ballot measures across 10 states, voters backed restrictions or rejected pro-development measures for all but one, according to an analysis by Ballotpedia and additional results gathered by CNBC on Wednesday.

Opposition to AI data centers mounted swiftly over the summer across both sides of the political aisle. Consumers grappling with inflation, rising grocery prices and stubbornly high prices at the pump grew worried that the facilities could exacerbate environmental harms, raise utility bills and contribute to job loss. For many, they became a physical manifestation of the widespread antipathy and anxiety around AI."

How a small Wisconsin city scuttled a secretive $1.6bn datacenter project; The Guardian, November 1, 2026

 Daniel A Medina with photographs by Eric Ruby, The Guardian ; How a small Wisconsin city scuttled a secretive $1.6bn datacenter project

"The relationship between Balloonist and Menomonie began in February 2024 when two Menomonie city officials, Atkinson and David Schofield, the city’s director of public works, signed NDAs with the developer. The one-page agreement, obtained by the Guardian, makes no mention of a datacenter. It does clearly instruct signatories that they cannot reveal the tech company behind “the project” or even the existence of the agreement itself.

A month after he signed the NDA, Schofield presented the city council with a proposed ordinance which would define the term “warehousing” in the city’s code. The newly added definition included the line, “establishments used primarily for the storage, management, processing, and transmission of digital data”, that effectively paved the way for a datacenter. The city council approved the change at an April 2024 council meeting. It is unclear if any councilmembers knew of Balloonist or of the potential datacenter project at the time of the vote.

That was the first step in a nearly 18-month process where the two sides developed plans for the datacenter campus in secret until the city government put out a press release about the proposed project in July 2025, according to interviews, public records and emails obtained by the Guardian. The emails, which cover a period from January to September 2025, show how the city and Balloonist took the necessary actions to make the datacenter a reality.

The emails also reveal, in real time, the fierce community backlash that eventually doomed it...

Knaack said he was proud to have stopped the datacenter, for now, and that he was encouraged to see the growing backlash nationally, claiming Menomonie could serve as a model for other small municipalities fighting back.

“All small communities should be aware that when somebody comes in with a sales pitch that seems too good to be true, maybe it is,” he said. “Learn from our mistakes and follow our lead...

At least $156bn in projects were blocked or delayed in 2025 across the United States, according to Data Center Watch, a project by the AI safety firm, 10a Labs, that tracks opposition nationwide to datacenters. This year, between April and June, 45 projects worth an estimated $68bn were blocked or delayed.

That opposition to the infrastructure that trains and powers AI models, and growing public distrust of the industry itself, has become one of the defining bipartisan issues ahead of the midterm elections.

President Trump, who has made AI the centerpiece of his second-term economic agenda, lashed out in an August Truth Social post that communities that opposed AI datacenters risked ending up “backwards and poor”.

At the local level, more than 500 counties and municipalities now seek to ban or restrict datacenters, according to an analysis from the climate news site HeatMap."

Pennsylvania governor signs order imposing new rules to set up AI data centers in state; Reuters, August 18, 2026

 Reuters; Pennsylvania governor signs order imposing new rules to set up AI data centers in state

"Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro on Tuesday signed an executive order that would require companies setting up AI ​data centers in the state to meet environmental and ‌transparency safeguards and secure local community approval for the projects.

The state has become a sought-after location for data centers due to its abundant natural gas from ​the Marcellus shale basin, existing power infrastructure and proximity to ​major population centers on the East Coast."

Data center developers are pushing Pa. government officials to sign secrecy agreements. At least some are saying yes.; SpotlightPA, August 19, 2026

 

Kate Huangpu , SpotlightPA; Data center developers are pushing Pa. government officials to sign secrecy agreements. At least some are saying yes.

"Public records requests filed by Spotlight PA found at least eight NDAs signed by township, county, and Shapiro administration officials for data center projects. Why they signed and whether the NDA shaped an eventual deal isn’t always clear. Only two lawmakers who signed such agreements responded to the newsroom’s requests for comment.

Data center developers across the United States have increasingly turned to this tactic. They have secured NDAs with elected officials and economic development advisors, limiting what information about planned data centers can be shared with communities."

How the Supreme Court Secretly Made Itself Even More Secretive; The New York Times, February 2, 2026

 Jodi Kantor, The New York Times ; How the Supreme Court Secretly Made Itself Even More Secretive

Amid calls to increase transparency and revelations about the court’s inner workings, the chief justice imposed nondisclosure agreements on clerks and employees.

"n November of 2024, two weeks after voters returned President Donald Trump to office, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. summoned employees of the U.S. Supreme Court for an unusual announcement. Facing them in a grand conference room beneath ornate chandeliers, he requested they each sign a nondisclosure agreement promising to keep the court’s inner workings secret.

The chief justice acted after a series of unusual leaks of internal court documents, most notably of the decision overturning the right to abortion, and news reports about ethical lapses by the justices. Trust in the institution was languishing at a historic low. Debate was intensifying over whether the black box institution should be more transparent.

Instead, the chief justice tightened the court’s hold on information.Its employees have long been expected to stay silent about what they witness behind the scenes. But starting that autumn, in a move that has not been previously reported, the chief justice converted what was once a norm into a formal contract, according to five people familiar with the shift."

3 Types of Documents Every Company Needs to Have in Place; Lexology, October 23, 2018

Cozen O'Connor - Jeremiah G. Garvey and Seth Popick, Lexology; 3 Types of Documents Every Company Needs to Have in Place

"Documents for Protection of the Company’s Intellectual Property

In addition to formal employment terms and conditions and formal consulting and advisor agreements, the most important agreement for most emerging companies to have shortly after formation is a non-disclosure agreement. This agreement is usually entered into with unrelated third parties who may come in contact with the company’s proprietary information and is intended to protect the company’s rights to its intellectual property."

10 Effective Ways To Protect Your Intellectual Property; Forbes Technology Council, July 23, 2018

Forbes Technology Council; 10 Effective Ways To Protect Your Intellectual Property

"As your new invention comes to light, your initial thought may be to let the world know. While shouting your success from the rooftops is appealing, before you do, you need to consider how best to protect what you have worked so hard to develop.

Patents and copyrights can offer you some security, but don’t always mean that your design is completely protected, as copies can certainly emerge. There are, however, a number of other options available to you, each with their own strengths.

Below, 10 members of Forbes Technology Council weigh in on some less-common, yet still effective, ways to protect your intellectual property. Here’s what they recommend:"

Trade secret law: A brief guide for in-house counsel; Inside Counsel, 8/18/16

Ben Berkowitz, Briggs Matheson, Inside Counsel; Trade secret law: A brief guide for in-house counsel:

"What information does trade secret law protect?

Forty-seven states have adopted some form of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”), with New York, Massachusetts, and North Carolina as the only exceptions. Under the UTSA, there is a two-prong test for determining whether information may be subject to trade secret protection. First, trade secret information must be information that “derive[s] independent economic value” from not being publicly known (See, e.g., Cal. Civ. Code § 3426.1(d)). That is, the information is valuable because it is a secret that others, including competitors, do not possess. Second, the information must be “the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.” (Id.) “The determination of whether ‘reasonable efforts’ have been taken is quintessentially fact-specific,” and “‘depends on a balancing of costs and benefits that will vary from case to case.’” (Rockwell Graphic Systems, Inc. v. DEV Industries, Inc.) “Reasonable efforts” may include adopting confidentiality policies, entering into non-disclosure agreements, and establishing digital and physical security infrastructure. (Religious Tech. Ctr. Netcom On-Line Commc’n Servs.)"