OpenAI rebrands datacentres as "compute campuses": what changes

OpenAI has started calling datacentres "compute campuses". The company gave its explanation to Business Insider on Sunday, as reported by Arwa Mahdawi in The Guardian. A spokesperson said the phrase better captures the scale and role of the infrastructure being built for AI. The same spokesperson described these as long-term investments in computing, energy infrastructure and skilled work.

Mahdawi notes the new wording is alliterative and sounds warmer than the old term. She presumes that is the reason, but flags the official explanation as more convoluted. The rename is the concrete change here: a different label in OpenAI's language.

The backdrop is public anger. Mahdawi writes that a majority of Americans across the political spectrum hate datacentres with a passion. The issue has become one of the biggest talking points of the midterms.

She points to the main reason people give: many blame the resource-heavy centres for driving up the cost of utility bills. The piece also notes growing nervousness about AI around the world. A photo caption in the article shows a sign opposing datacentres in a front yard in Ohio ahead of the midterm elections.

Mahdawi concedes that names do matter. She cites the US healthcare reform passed in Barack Obama's first term. Republicans pushed the label "Obamacare" for the Affordable Care Act, aiming to frame it as a self-serving power grab.

A 2017 Morning Consult study found that a third of Americans did not know the two names meant the same law. About 80% of Republicans strongly disapproved of Obamacare, against roughly 60% for the Affordable Care Act. The pollster's co-founder said small changes in wording can move people's minds.

Mahdawi is sceptical that a new label will win people over. She writes she is fairly certain the term won't win hearts and change minds. She also questions whether OpenAI believes the public can be swayed by a few new buzzwords.

She adds that the tech industry has other tactics and partners. She cites Fox News, which she says appears to be doing PR for the industry. She points to a new analysis by Media Matters for America on the volume of pro-datacentre claims.

The article ties the rename to a public image problem for the industry. It also links the debate to the midterms, where datacentres became a talking point.

Mahdawi's column frames the rename as a rebranding exercise rather than a fix for the concerns people raise.