Voters reject 40 of 41 data center measures as OpenAI drops NDAs

Voters across the United States rejected data center development in 40 out of 41 ballot measures on Tuesday, according to a Ballotpedia analysis reported by The San Francisco Standard. The electoral pushback is reshaping how technology companies negotiate utility and land-use approvals, prompting OpenAI to end non-disclosure agreements with public officials and leading Boise Mayor Lauren McLean to propose an immediate citywide moratorium on mega data centers ahead of a Nov. 10 council hearing.

Voters Reject 40 of 41 Ballot Measures Amid $720 Billion Build-Out

Collectively, the 4 hyperscaler companies — Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft — are on track to spend more than $720 billion on artificial intelligence infrastructure this year. However, local moratoriums — many lasting 6 months to 1 year — and state-level pledges, including a promise by Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa to immediately halt approvals of new data center facilities, have raised the prospect of construction delays and reduced tax incentives, according to analysts at Jefferies. UC Berkeley economics professor Enrico Moretti compared the decentralized county and state approval process to housing regulation, while LT350 CEO Jeff Thramann noted that training facilities can be sited overseas or eventually in space.

In its S-1 filing, Anthropic stated that it is expanding its data center footprint overseas, while Meta Platforms President Dina Powell McCormick told a Wall Street Journal conference in Napa that starting new United States build-outs is challenging and that hyperscalers are evaluating international hedging. Google has committed to test launches next year for space-based compute, an idea also discussed by Jeff Bezos, Jensen Huang, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

OpenAI Drops Public Official NDAs and Introduces Local Compacts

Following the election, OpenAI announced new community commitments on Thursday, pledging that it will no longer use non-disclosure agreements with public officials on data center development plans, as reported by The Verge. Mirroring a step Amazon took in October, OpenAI stated that it will use only narrow protections covering legitimate security information, trade secrets, or proprietary information.

OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane published an essay addressing the infrastructure debate as the company committed to paying the full cost of electricity and supporting grid infrastructure, publishing expected job counts and hiring reports, and establishing a local compact for every future "AI compute campus" it owns and operates. Anthropic has similarly promised to cover electricity price increases for neighbors, and Meta says it pays for the energy and water used by its facilities.

Boise Mayor Proposes Mega Data Center Moratorium for Nov. 10 Hearing

At the municipal level, Boise Mayor Lauren McLean has proposed an immediate moratorium on mega data centers within Boise city limits, scheduled for a public hearing before the Boise City Council at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10, according to Hoodline. Under Idaho Code § 67-6523, an emergency moratorium can last up to 182 days, while Idaho Code § 67-6524 allows an interim moratorium of up to 1 calendar year.

Although Boise currently has no mega data center applications on file, Rhea Data has proposed a facility southeast of the city spanning more than 3,700 acres of Bureau of Land Management land near Blacks Creek Reservoir — with BoiseDev noting a reported 3,226-acre design figure that the agency has not confirmed. Nearby in Kuna, Meta's 750,000-square-foot data center began operations on Sept. 3, 2026, alongside a $100 million water and wastewater investment, while Bannock County enacted a 180-day unincorporated pause through Jan. 26, 2027. University of Idaho Energy Institute executive director John Kumm noted that data centers carry small-town electric loads, even as a Taxpayers Protection Alliance report estimated they used 0.01% of Idaho's water and 1.5% of its electricity in 2025. Nationally, a May Gallup poll found 7 in 10 Americans oppose local data center construction across more than 2,000 planned facilities, UC Riverside researcher Shaolei Ren noted a 1-gigawatt facility can consume up to 10 million gallons of water a day, and Maine towns Peru, Wells, Eliot, and Wiscasset enacted 180-day or 6-month pauses while Sabattus backed a moratorium on facilities of at least 10,000 square feet or 20 megawatts through May 2027.