The White House is planning to bring together prominent data center and artificial intelligence companies in early March to formalize a set of commitments intended to shield consumers from higher electricity costs, according to two sources familiar with the plans. Companies expected to be involved include Microsoft, Anthropic and Meta Platforms.
The meeting is designed to advance an initiative President Donald Trump outlined during his State of the Union address. In that speech he said he had told major technology firms they must build their own power plants to operate the rapidly expanding fleet of data centers and other infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence.
Sources familiar with the discussions said the pledge under consideration is likely to mirror commitments Microsoft offered earlier this year to invest in new electricity generation and in measures to improve energy efficiency.
Commenting on the broader initiative, Brad Smith, Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President, said: "We appreciate the Administration’s work to ensure that data centers don’t contribute to higher electricity prices for consumers." Microsoft did not indicate whether it would attend the meeting next week or whether it would sign any new pledge.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment, and Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Securing the large amounts of electricity required to run artificial intelligence systems has been emphasized by Trump as a central component of his second-term agenda. That focus has taken on added political sensitivity ahead of the midterm elections as growth in energy demand from data centers contributes to higher power bills across a wide swath of the country.
The recent surge in large data center projects - projects proponents say are necessary to support the expansion of AI technologies - has prompted increasing protests at the local and state levels. Residents and officials have raised concerns that the developments could lead to rising electricity bills and increased pollution tied to new power generation or other associated infrastructure.
Officials and company representatives are weighing voluntary industry commitments as one approach to address those concerns, while local opposition and the political environment continue to shape discussions about how the expansion of data center capacity should proceed.