OpenAI chief financial officer Sarah Friar told CNBC’s Sara Eisen at the Citi TMT Leadership Summit in Pebble Beach, California, that the company will keep pouring capital into artificial‑intelligence infrastructure despite a wave of voter resistance to data‑center projects in the latest midterm elections.
Midterm ballot outcomes and industry sentiment
Analysis by Ballotpedia, supplemented by additional results gathered by CNBC, showed that out of 41 local ballot measures spanning ten states, voters either approved restrictions or rejected pro‑development proposals in every case except one. Opposition to new facilities accelerated over the summer as concerns grew about potential environmental impact, higher utility costs and possible job losses.
These voter attitudes have coincided with a broader scepticism among investors toward the AI sector. Higher borrowing costs, worries about mounting debt and a public backlash have contributed to a tightening of capital. On Thursday, the Nasdaq recorded its steepest decline in 19 months, led by a sell‑off in shares of chipmakers and “neocloud” firms closely tied to AI compute expansion. The market showed some recovery on Friday, but the pressure on AI‑related equities remains evident.
OpenAI’s commitment to data‑center expansion
OpenAI relies on large‑scale data centers to train its models and deliver services to customers. Friar said the midterm results did not fundamentally alter the company’s strategy. On Thursday, OpenAI released a policy blueprint outlining a series of commitments it intends to apply to its own data‑center operations, emphasizing community engagement and trust‑building.
“If the midterm means more focus on data centers and communities, we’ll keep doing the work to get into those communities and to build trust with them,” Friar said during the interview.
The company filed a confidential prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in June and is still evaluating a potential public debut in 2027. Its chief rival, Anthropic, is pursuing an earlier Nasdaq listing slated for mid‑November. Anthropic’s prospectus reports a roughly 1,200 % revenue surge in the first nine months of the year, reaching $33.2 billion, and cites purchase commitments and lease agreements amounting to about $895.4 billion, almost entirely directed toward compute and infrastructure.
OpenAI is currently in fundraising talks at a pre‑money valuation of $1.25 billion. Friar noted that “a good CFO always raises money when she can,” and confirmed that the round is ongoing. The firm has already secured an initial $11 billion tranche, a figure first reported by Bloomberg, and could add up to another $9 billion in the weeks ahead.
“The demand for AI is real,” Friar asserted. “I don’t think anyone’s arguing with that, or if they are, I think it’s a losing argument.” The interview, which was broadcast in full on CNBC, underscored OpenAI’s resolve to sustain infrastructure investment while navigating a shifting political and financial landscape.
Mitchell Landsberg is a Senior Technology Correspondent at News Raise. He covers consumer electronics, artificial intelligence, software developments, and digital privacy trends.
