OpenAI has asked the Trump administration to broaden a 35% semiconductor-focused tax credit to cover AI data centers, AI server manufacturers, and electrical grid components, according to a letter dated Oct. 27 and reported by Bloomberg. The letter, sent to White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios, was signed by OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane, who said expanding the credit would “lower the effective cost of capital, de-risk early investment and unlock private capital to help alleviate bottlenecks and accelerate the AI build in the U.S.”
The request sheds light on how OpenAI envisions the government’s role in supporting costly investments in AI infrastructure. The company alone has committed $1.4 trillion toward building advanced AI systems and the supporting data center network, drawing scrutiny for the complex financing arrangements underpinning the effort. Earlier this week, OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar sparked debate by suggesting the government might play a role in “backstopping” the financing, though she and CEO Sam Altman later clarified the company is not seeking a bailout. U.S. officials have dismissed the idea of government backstops, and White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks tweeted that “there will be no federal bailout for AI,” Bloomberg reported.
In its letter, OpenAI also encouraged the government to provide grants, cost-sharing agreements, loans, or loan guarantees to AI manufacturers broadly, highlighting the need to counter China in areas where it is “distorting the market,” including copper, aluminum, and electrical steel. OpenAI argued that direct funding could also shorten lead times for critical grid components such as transformers. Altman, in a social media post cited by Bloomberg, emphasized the company’s goal of ensuring that AI chip supply chains are “as American as possible” to bring jobs and industrialization back to the U.S. and strengthen the country’s strategic position.
OpenAI’s proposal builds on its September white paper, which supported loan guarantees to allow AI companies to confidently purchase U.S.-made chips at scale, bolstering domestic semiconductor production while reducing costs for AI firms. The request aligns with the Trump administration’s messaging about maintaining U.S. leadership in AI and its ongoing effort to remake the 2022 Chips Act, under which the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit was raised from 25% to 35% in July’s omnibus tax bill. As of January, only $5.5 billion of the $75 billion available under the Chips Act had been awarded, according to the Commerce Department.
The letter illustrates OpenAI’s continued push for government-backed measures to support large-scale AI infrastructure investments, signaling the company’s commitment to domestic production and its strategic ambitions in the AI sector, Bloomberg noted.
