After a midterms repudiation, OpenAI is betting a data center rebrand will make you hate them less

Republicans weren’t the only big losers in last week’s midterms: Across the country, voters also backed restrictions on data centers and elected candidates promising tougher oversight of AI companies. Out of 41 local ballot initiatives limiting the data center buildout, 40 of them passed, according to the New York Times.

The AI industry knows it was a tough cycle: Chris Lehane, the chief global affairs officer for OpenAI, told Today, Explained co-host Sean Rameswaram that “I could take my shirt off and show you my [metaphorical] bruises if you want.”

Now, OpenAI is figuring out how to move forward. Lehane talked with Sean from rural Texas, where he said he was on a “listening and learning” tour of communities around the site of a massive OpenAI data center. They discussed the lessons of the midterm election, why OpenAI would prefer that we call data centers “compute campuses,” and why Lehane thinks the 2028 presidential election will largely revolve around AI — just not in the same way that 2026 did.

“I just don’t think it’s going to be good enough for a candidate from either party to emerge from their primary by simply being the person who’s against things,” Lehane explained.

Below is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. There’s much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.