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OpenAI Unveils Plan to Keep Data-Center Energy Costs in Check

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OpenAI has announced a new Stargate Community plan designed to ensure its expanding data center operations do not push up electricity costs for local communities. The initiative aims to make OpenAI’s large-scale AI infrastructure “pay its way on energy” as demand for computing power accelerates.

Stargate is a $500 billion, multi-year effort to build advanced AI data centers for training and inference, backed by investors including Oracle. The project received public support from U.S. President Donald Trump when it was first announced in early 2025.

Under the new approach, each Stargate site will have a locally tailored community plan shaped by local input and concerns. Depending on the location, OpenAI said this could involve fully funding dedicated power and storage, or paying for new energy generation and transmission capacity to support the facility.

The move reflects growing pressure on technology companies to address the strain that AI data centers place on power grids. OpenAI’s announcement follows a similar step by Microsoft, which recently outlined measures to manage water and electricity use at its U.S. data centers while working with utilities to expand local supply.

AI Hyperscalers Seen Driving Surge in U.S. Corporate Bond Supply in 2026

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U.S. corporate bond issuance is set to rise sharply in 2026, with artificial intelligence hyperscalers expected to be a major driver as they ramp up spending on data centres and computing power, analysts say.

According to a report from Barclays, total U.S. corporate bond issuance could reach $2.46 trillion in 2026, up nearly 12% from $2.2 trillion in 2025. Net issuance is forecast at $945 billion, a 30% increase from last year, with AI-related capital expenditure seen as the biggest upside risk.

Barclays said the rise in supply would be driven less by financial firms and more by non-financial companies, particularly large AI-focused technology groups that may need to fund “jumbo” bond deals to support rapid expansion.

The five major AI hyperscalers — Amazon, Google, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Oracle — issued about $121 billion in U.S. corporate bonds last year, far above their 2020–2024 average of $28 billion, according to BofA Securities.

BofA expects hyperscaler borrowing to accelerate further, estimating the group could raise around $140 billion a year over the next three years, potentially exceeding $300 billion annually. That would put them on par with the largest U.S. banks as bond issuers and make them some of the biggest names in the investment-grade market.

Hyperscalers already dominated issuance in 2025. According to MUFG, four of the five largest U.S. high-grade bond deals last year came from AI-driven tech firms, including Oracle’s $18 billion sale and Meta’s $30 billion deal — the largest ever non-M&A investment-grade bond offering.

The surge in supply has begun to widen credit spreads, pushing investors to hedge AI-related risks through credit default swaps. MUFG data shows the cost of insuring hyperscaler debt has risen since mid-2025, with Oracle’s five-year CDS more than tripling since its September bond sale.

Former Trump Adviser Dina Powell McCormick Appointed Meta President and Vice Chairman

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Meta Platforms on Monday named former Trump administration official Dina Powell McCormick as its president and vice chairman, a move widely seen as strengthening the company’s lobbying and political ties in Washington.

U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated Powell McCormick shortly after the announcement in a post on Truth Social, calling her “fantastic” and praising her service in his administration with “strength and distinction.”

Her appointment comes amid a broader strategic realignment at Meta that has brought the company closer to Trump and Republican leadership. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has been seeking political backing for Meta’s expanding investments in frontier artificial intelligence and so-called personal superintelligence, including plans to build massive data centers and secure long-term energy capacity. Ahead of Trump’s second inauguration, Zuckerberg visited him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Over the past year, Meta has taken several steps that have appealed to Trump, including scrapping its U.S. fact-checking program, promoting Republican executive Joel Kaplan to chief global affairs officer, ending diversity programs, and hiring former Trump trade adviser C.J. Mahoney to lead its legal team. Meta declined to say whether Powell McCormick’s appointment was intended to curry favor with Trump.

Dina Powell McCormick Joins Meta as President and Vice Chairman

According to the company, Powell McCormick will focus on expanding Meta’s data center footprint, building new strategic capital partnerships, and increasing the firm’s long-term investment capacity—areas critical to its AI ambitions. Meta has committed up to $72 billion in capital spending for 2025 as it works to regain momentum in Silicon Valley’s AI race after a muted reception to its Llama 4 model.

Powell McCormick brings extensive experience in both finance and government. She spent 16 years in senior leadership roles at Goldman Sachs, served as deputy national security adviser during Trump’s first term, and previously held a senior White House advisory role under former President George W. Bush. She is married to David McCormick, a Republican senator from Pennsylvania who chairs a Senate subcommittee overseeing energy policy—an area relevant to Meta’s data center expansion.

A spokesperson for Senator McCormick said he will continue to comply with all Senate ethics rules. However, critics raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Sacha Haworth, executive director of the Tech Oversight Project, said the senator should recuse himself from any votes or committee actions involving Meta’s business.

Powell McCormick’s new role echoes the influence once wielded by former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, who used deep ties to Washington and the Democratic Party to help Meta navigate regulatory scrutiny. Notably, Powell McCormick had resigned from Meta’s board in December, just eight months after joining, before being elevated to her new executive position.