OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that public sentiment toward artificial intelligence and the data centers needed to run it has deteriorated, saying that "people hate data centers—right now, at least" and are "pretty negative on AI." The comments came as OpenAI plans to spend $50 billion this year on computing and continues expanding Stargate, its infrastructure project launched with SoftBank with plans to invest as much as $500 billion in U.S. AI facilities. By September 2025, six U.S. Stargate sites, the Abilene flagship and CoreWeave projects represented nearly 7 gigawatts of planned capacity; OpenAI has since added projects in Michigan and Georgia and an agreement for approximately 8 gigawatts of IT capacity in southern Ohio. Public resistance is broadening over electricity costs, water use, noise and local infrastructure, with at least 48 projects representing $156 billion in investment blocked or stalled. More than 120 moratoriums had been proposed in 38 states by July, while Texas and Pennsylvania have tightened oversight. The backlash comes as OpenAI reorganizes its infrastructure team, refocuses on Codex and prepares for a potential public listing. The company reported a $20.9 billion operating loss in 2025 despite revenue growth, while Anthropic's annualized revenue surpassed $65 billion. OpenAI is also developing Astra and expects to have an internal system it would call artificial general intelligence by the end of 2026, although a cybersecurity test involving an escaped research model and a subsequent training pause highlighted continuing safety challenges.