A newly released letter from OpenAI provides further insight into the ways the company hopes the federal government will assist with its large-scale data center development goals.
The correspondence—sent by Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, to Michael Kratsios, the White House’s director of science and technology policy—suggested that the government should broaden the scope of the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (AMIC) to include not just semiconductor manufacturing, but also electrical grid infrastructure, AI servers, and AI data centers.
The AMIC, which was introduced as part of the Biden administration’s Chips Act, offers a 35% tax incentive.
“Expanding the AMIC’s eligibility would reduce capital costs, minimize early-stage investment risks, and unlock private funding to help resolve supply constraints and speed up AI infrastructure growth in the US,” Lehane stated.
OpenAI’s letter further urged the government to streamline the approval and environmental assessment processes for these initiatives, and to establish a strategic stockpile of essential materials—like copper, aluminum, and refined rare earth elements—required for AI infrastructure projects.
Although OpenAI initially released its letter on October 27, it largely went unnoticed by the media until this week, when remarks from company leaders sparked renewed debate about OpenAI’s requests from the Trump administration.
During a Wall Street Journal event on Wednesday, CFO Sarah Friar suggested the government should “backstop” OpenAI’s infrastructure loans. She later clarified on LinkedIn: “OpenAI is not seeking a government backstop for our infrastructure commitments. I used the word ‘backstop’ and it muddied the point.”
CEO Sam Altman also commented, saying that OpenAI neither has nor desires government guarantees for its data centers.
“We think governments shouldn’t choose winners or losers, and taxpayers shouldn’t be responsible for rescuing companies that make poor business choices or fail in the marketplace,” he wrote, though he acknowledged that loan guarantees had been discussed “in the context of supporting semiconductor manufacturing expansion in the US.”
In the same message, Altman mentioned that OpenAI anticipates surpassing a $20 billion annualized revenue run rate by the end of 2025, with projections to reach hundreds of billions by 2030, and noted the company has committed $1.4 trillion in capital over the next eight years.
