OpenAI Pushes New Deal‑Style AI Policy Ahead of 2028 Election

OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehane, frames the 2028 U.S. presidential race as a pivotal moment for artificial intelligence, urging lawmakers to move beyond rhetoric and craft policies that address public anxiety over economic displacement and data‑center impacts.

In an essay that likens AI’s economic potential to the New Deal, Lehane outlines five priority areas:

• Workforce protection – safeguards for workers facing automation.
• Education and reskilling – incentives for AI skill acquisition.
• Safety standards – baseline requirements for model deployment.
• Data‑center expansion – streamlined permitting and energy planning.
• Tax incentives – credits for entrepreneurs and employee‑ownership models.

Critics, including Kate Brennan of the AI Now Institute, argue the framework reads more like a corporate wish list than a binding social contract. They point out the lack of enforceable mechanisms to redistribute AI‑generated wealth or to hold firms accountable for job losses and rising electricity costs tied to massive compute clusters.

The recent midterms revealed bipartisan concern over data‑center energy consumption, a trend likely to intensify as voters link higher utility bills and job insecurity to AI infrastructure. Lehane acknowledges these pressures but offers few concrete safeguards against concentration of gains.

Why it matters for GPU / AI infrastructure

For cloud GPU providers, the policy debate signals where capacity planning and regulatory compliance will intersect. Clear rules on data‑center siting, energy reporting, and workforce transition could shape investment horizons and the competitive landscape for AI compute services.