Key facts
- OpenAI's Chris Lehane told Axios the company is preparing a PR blitz for after the midterm elections.
- Lehane said he expects AI to be the central issue in the 2028 presidential election.
- Proposals Lehane discussed include AI speed limits, global standards and rebranding data centers as AI compute campuses.
- Lehane called the data center debate good and healthy and said communities should hold companies accountable.
OpenAI is preparing a public relations campaign for after the midterm elections, Axios reported, citing the company's chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehane. The report said Democrats seemed likely to win back the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate.
Lehane told Axios the midterms would be a bit of a movie trailer for what you are going to see in 2028, when he expects AI to be the issue in the presidential election. He described proposals including the development of AI speed limits, efforts to help people see AI as empowering them in daily life, a push for the US to take a role in developing global standards, and rebranding data centers as AI compute campuses.
Lehane described the conversation around data centers as good and healthy. Communities should hold companies responsible and accountable so they really and truly get a transformative benefit from these projects, he said. The report noted that the data center debate has pushed Amazon and Microsoft to say they will no longer use NDAs in negotiations with local governments.