OpenAI head Sam Altman says ‘people hate data centers,’ but the company still plans to invest $50 million more in AI infrastructure this year alone
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged growing public backlash against data centers and AI infrastructure in a recent Time interview, reflecting on a difficult personal year that included an incident at his home. Despite recognizing that “people hate data centres—right now, at least,” and noting negative public sentiment toward AI broadly, OpenAI is pressing forward with aggressive infrastructure expansion.
The company has committed an additional $50 million in investment this year alone toward building out computational capacity needed to support its AI models. Sachin Katti, co-lead on OpenAI’s compute initiatives, is leading these efforts. The continued spending demonstrates OpenAI’s commitment to scaling AI infrastructure despite public opposition and local resistance to data center projects.
The contrast between Altman’s acknowledgment of anti-data center sentiment and the company’s substantial continued investment reflects the broader tension in the AI industry: while communities often oppose new data center construction due to environmental concerns, land use, and energy consumption, AI companies view infrastructure expansion as essential to their business growth. OpenAI’s $50 million commitment signals the company’s determination to pursue compute-intensive capabilities regardless of the political and social headwinds.