On November 8, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI has asked the Trump administration to adjust the tax credit policy in the Chip Act to help reduce the cost of building AI infrastructure. Currently, OpenAI is studying additional ways the U.S. government can support the construction of AI data centers across the industry.
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Chris Lehane, director of global affairs at OpenAI, sent a letter to Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, last week, recommending that the government work with Congress to expand the scope of the 35% tax credit for the chip industry to AI data centers, AI server manufacturers, and power grid components (such as transformers and the special steel required for their production). According to a copy of the letter published on the company’s official website, the payment date was October 27.
Lehane stated in the letter that expanding the scope of the tax credit will "reduce the actual cost of capital, avoid early investment risks, and release private capital, thereby helping to alleviate bottlenecks and accelerate the construction of U.S. AI infrastructure."
The letter, which has not been widely reported, sheds further light on OpenAI’s views on the government’s role in AI by helping to share the risks of costly AI investments. Currently, OpenAI alone has committed US$1.4 trillion to build data centers and chips to build more advanced AI systems and promote wider application of this technology. Since OpenAI is not yet profitable, these large-scale investment plans have also attracted scrutiny from the outside world. OpenAI is supporting these spending plans through a variety of innovative financing options, some of which have been criticized for being "revolving financing."
Just Thursday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also said that the company will not seek federal guarantees to reduce the risks of its large-scale investments in AI infrastructure, and taxpayer money should not be used to bail out AI companies.