Big tech companies are expected to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House next week and sign a pledge to provide their own power to artificial intelligence data centers.
Amazon, google, Meta, microsoft,xAI, oracle White House officials confirmed this to CNBC on Wednesday.
“Under this bold initiative, these large companies will build, install and buy their own power supplies for new AI data centers, ensuring Americans’ electricity bills don’t rise as demand increases,” White House Press Secretary Taylor Rogers told CNBC.
Fox News first reported the development.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Trump said he had secured such a commitment from the tech industry, but did not provide details of the agreement.
“We’re telling the big tech companies that they have an obligation to meet their own electricity needs,” the president said. “They can build their own power plants as part of the factory, so prices won’t go up.”
Data centers are facing opposition in communities across the country as people blame the facilities’ massive power consumption for soaring utility bills.
The Trump administration has closely embraced the AI industry as a driver of economic growth and a pillar of U.S. national security. It’s an alliance that poses political risks for the White House ahead of the midterm elections.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger defeated their Republican opponents in landslide elections last November, campaigning against electricity rate increases.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that the Trump administration has warned tech companies that they could face a backlash if the public believes data centers are driving up energy costs.
“We want to develop a data center,” Wright told reporters on a conference call. “We want them to be installed quickly. We want the communities to welcome them, but to do that we need to make an upfront investment in the additional grid infrastructure that is needed.”
