# Datacentres are deeply unpopular – so the geniuses at OpenAI are rebranding them | Arwa Mahdawi

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/datacentres-are-deeply-unpopular-so-the-geniuses-at-openai-are-rebranding-them-arwa-mahdawi/
- Published: 2026-11-03T16:58:55+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-06T10:53:57+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/nov/03/datacentres-are-deeply-unpopular-so-the-geniuses-at-openai-are-rebranding-them
- Topics: AI, Americas, Politics, Technology, World

## Key points

- OpenAI is calling its AI facilities “compute campuses”.
- Public concern centres partly on resource use and utility bills.
- The article links the issue to US midterm politics.

## Summary

OpenAI is using the term “compute campuses” for the large facilities it is building to support AI, a shift the writer presents as an attempt to improve datacentres’ public image. The article argues that changing the label will not address the underlying concerns, especially as opposition to these facilities becomes a political issue in the United States.

The piece says many Americans across party lines dislike datacentres, with rising utility bills among the main concerns attributed to their resource demands. OpenAI says “compute campuses” better reflects the scale and role of its investments in computing, energy and skilled work. The writer cites a 2017 survey in which a third of Americans did not realise the Affordable Care Act and “Obamacare” referred to the same law, and reports that pro-datacentre claims on Fox News rose 420% after 18 August, when a Republican committee warned that opposition could hurt candidates in the midterms.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.