OpenAI CEO Sam Altman faced pointed questions from staff on Wednesday, a day after US midterm results turned data centres into one of the clearest losers of election night, The Wall Street Journal reported. During an internal Q&A, employees asked Altman about data centres and the public mood on AI. Altman acknowledged that people are concerned about how much water these facilities use and said he understood why people might not want to live near one, musing that OpenAI should perhaps look at building its data centres in the desert. The meeting came as senior leaders discussed whether OpenAI would need to reset expectations for its computing capacity next year, and staff working on site development swapped notes on newly elected Democratic politicians in key states. Candidates who promised to freeze new data centre development won governor's races in Texas, Georgia, Ohio and Michigan. Of the 41 data centre-related ballot measures voted on this week, all but one went against the facilities, according to Ballotpedia. Investor Brad Gerstner said on the All-In podcast that as much as 35% of the US data centre construction planned for next year is now at risk. On Thursday, OpenAI published a National Community Compact covering future sites it owns and operates, saying it will not ask public officials to sign non-disclosure agreements, will pay the full cost of the electricity it uses, publish site-level water and power use, and release independent noise studies before operations begin.