A recently released letter from OpenAI provides further insight into the company’s hopes for federal support regarding its large-scale data center construction plans.
Penned by OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehane, and directed to Michael Kratsios, the White House’s director of science and technology policy, the letter suggested the government consider broadening the scope of the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (AMIC). The suggestion was to extend it beyond semiconductor fabrication to encompass electrical grid components, AI servers, and AI data centers.
The AMIC, a 35% tax credit, was a component of the Biden administration’s Chips Act.
Lehane wrote, “Expanding AMIC coverage will decrease the effective cost of capital, reduce risk in early investments, and free up private capital to ease bottlenecks and expedite AI development in the US.”
OpenAI’s letter also urged the government to expedite the permitting and environmental review processes for these projects and to establish a strategic reserve of raw materials, including copper, aluminum, and processed rare earth minerals, essential for building AI infrastructure.
Originally published on October 27, the letter gained significant attention this week after comments from OpenAI executives spurred broader discussions about the company’s requests from the Trump administration.
At a Wall Street Journal event on Wednesday, CFO Sarah Friar suggested the government should “backstop” OpenAI’s infrastructure loans. However, she later clarified on LinkedIn that her statement was inaccurate: “OpenAI is not seeking a government backstop for our infrastructure commitments. I used the word ‘backstop’ and it muddied the point.”
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CEO Sam Altman also commented, stating that OpenAI does not “have or want government guarantees for OpenAI datacenters.”
He wrote, “We believe that governments should not favor specific companies, and that taxpayers should not rescue companies that make poor business choices or otherwise fail in the market.” However, he mentioned that the company had discussed loan guarantees “as part of supporting the buildout of semiconductor fabs in the US.”
In the same post, Altman shared that the company anticipates ending 2025 “above $20 billion in annualized revenue run rate and grow to hundreds of billion by 2030,” and that OpenAI has committed $1.4 trillion in capital for the next eight years.
