Hi Dotikers!

When tech giants promise not to jack up your electricity bill, you're somewhere between relieved and raising an eyebrow. A week after Microsoft rolled out its "Community-First" initiative, OpenAI follows suit with "Stargate Community": same promises, same timing, same well-rehearsed choreography.

To be fair, the industry doesn't have much choice anymore. Over the past two years, more than $64 billion worth of data center projects have been blocked or abandoned due to local community pushback. And for good reason: according to a Bloomberg analysis, some areas near data centers saw electricity rates spike by 267% in just five years. Hard to convince residents that AI will transform their lives when it starts by tripling their power bill.

OpenAI's concrete commitments mirror Microsoft's almost perfectly: funding dedicated energy sources, battery storage, grid expansion, and water resource protection. One year after announcing the Stargate project, the first site in Abilene, Texas is already training AI models, with six more locations under development across the country.

This coordinated wave of good intentions, praised by the White House, looks more like a rescue operation than a burst of generosity. The industry has realized that its gigawatt-sized appetite won't fly without giving something back. Whether these promises will hold up against economic realities, or join the graveyard of CSR commitments, remains to be seen. The real test won't be in the press release, but on your neighbor's utility bill.

Alexis