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⚖️ POLICY & REGULATION
OpenAI Pledges No NDAs With Officials And Full Power Costs At Its Own Data Centers, And Asks Lawmakers To Require The Same Of Everyone: OpenAI published a National Community Compact and a Compute Campus Policy Blueprint on Thursday, Nov. 5, two days after voters backed local data center limits across the country. For future campuses it owns and operates, it says it will not ask public officials to sign nondisclosure agreements except on narrow security and trade-secret matters, will pay the full cost of the electricity and infrastructure it needs with financial assurances so other customers are protected if a project is delayed, shrunk or canceled, and will publish noise, water and energy-demand data and annual progress reports. The blueprint asks federal, state and local governments to write similar duties into law for the whole industry; the Senate's S 5653 would do part of that, barring utilities from charging other customers for upgrades that serve data center loads of 20 MW or more. As written, the compact covers campuses OpenAI owns and operates, not capacity it leases from partners. Link
More Than 50 AI Safety Groups Ask Democratic Leaders To Give AI Committee Gavels To Safety-Minded Members: More than 50 organizations working on AI safety wrote congressional Democratic leaders urging them to favor members strong on AI safety for committee posts in the next Congress, and privately raised concerns about Rep. Suhas Subramanyam's leadership of a House Science subcommittee, The Washington Post reported Thursday, Nov. 5; Subramanyam defended his record and said it "would make sense" for him to chair the subcommittee with jurisdiction over AI testing bodies. A parallel coalition letter asked Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries to keep Big Tech allies from chairing key committees and to refuse federal preemption of stronger state tech laws, Tampa Free Press reported. Link
📅 This week on Docket Room
Mon., Nov. 9: the Senate returns, with the permitting deal and its data center ratepayer rules awaiting floor action: S 5653.
Mon., Nov. 9, 10:30 a.m.: D.C. Council hearing on its bill against AI-made false sexual imagery, B 26-0524.
Fri., Nov. 13: Oregon PUC votes on Pacific Power's data center cost settlement under HB 3546.
STATES
Arizona Approved 107 Data Center Tax Exemptions In The Two Weeks Before Its Three-Year Pause Began: The Arizona Commerce Authority received 113 applications for data center sales tax exemptions between June 15 and June 30, then issued 107 certifications, denied three and saw three withdrawn, ABC15 reported Thursday, Nov. 5. The pause, written into the budget's tax omnibus HB 4168, bars new applications from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029, and leaves existing exemptions in place; the authority says the approvals do not mean 107 new data centers, and companies can still build without the break. Track HB 4168 on Docket Room. Link
Guilford County, N.C., Adopts An 18-Month Data Center Moratorium, Triple Its Original Proposal: Guilford County commissioners voted unanimously Thursday, Nov. 5, for an 18-month pause on data center development after first weighing 180 days and hearing residents ask for 32 months, WFMY reported. Commissioner Skip Alston noted that no developer is currently seeking a site in the county; the ordinance text has not been released. Link
Cromwell, Conn., Freezes Data Center Applications For Six Months, Reversing Its September Vote: Cromwell's Planning and Zoning Commission approved a six-month moratorium on data center applications Thursday, Nov. 5, before a packed Town Hall, after rejecting a 12-month pause in September; Mayor James Demetriades said it is needed until the zoning rewrite runs its course, FOX61 reported. Developer Global Common LLC's Geer Street proposal is allowed by right under current zoning, and a separate zoning amendment application has a Dec. 3 hearing. Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff has said he will file a statewide moratorium when the legislature convenes. Link
🛡️ SAFETY & SECURITY
Parents Sue Google, Saying Gemini On A School Chromebook Helped Their 13-Year-Old Plan Her Suicide: The complaint, filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court and moved by Google to federal court, says the girl discussed methods and planned her own funeral with Gemini, which helped her hide her feelings from her family, and her lawyers say she reached it through Google Search on a school device without seeking it out, The Hill reported. Google said it will turn Gemini off by default for student accounts, though schools using Search may still see some AI features. New York's S 9051-B, in force Jan. 1, 2027, bars "unsafe AI companion features" for minors, including ones that encourage self-harm or secrecy. Link
A North Carolina Man Sues OpenAI, Saying ChatGPT Helped His Estranged Wife Plan To Poison Him: James Gates's suit in San Francisco Superior Court names OpenAI and Sam Altman and alleges negligent design, failure to warn and intentional infliction of emotional distress; he says he found a handwritten note listing toxic plants and prescription drugs with the words "delete all conversations." Cheryl Gates was indicted in October 2025, but attempted murder and food contamination charges were dropped in April for insufficient evidence; OpenAI said it banned the user and gave information to law enforcement. Link
💰 POWER & CAPITAL
Lambda Is The Anchor For Alabama's $33.1 Billion Data Center As A Second Suit Challenges The County's Tax Break: Lambda said it will build a four-building campus on Cloverleaf Infrastructure's Project Red Clay site in Lowndes County, Ala., an estimated $33.1 billion investment, Alabama Political Reporter reported Thursday, Nov. 5. On Tuesday, Protect Lowndes County and the Alabama Rivers Alliance sued the County Commission in circuit court under the Open Meetings and Open Records acts, alleging thin notice, inaudible discussions and limited public comment before the October approval of a multibillion-dollar tax abatement for Cloverleaf, and asking a judge to void it; a residents' suit over the 3-2 abatement vote is still pending, AL.com reported. Link
Google Commits $17 Billion To A Wyoming Data Center On 702 MW Of Fuel Cells And Says It Will Pay For All Its Power: Google announced its first Wyoming campus, in Laramie County, on Thursday, Nov. 5, with Tallgrass Energy, Black Hills Energy, American Electric Power and Related Digital; it would run on a 702 MW fuel-cell plant with emissions captured at Tallgrass's Eastern Wyoming Sequestration Hub and use air cooling rather than water, and Google says it will pay for 100 percent of the power it uses, Quartz reported. No construction timeline was given; residents at a Cheyenne meeting raised concerns, and Google is forming a community council. Link
📜 DISPATCH PRO
🌙 Since Thursday's issue
Nothing has moved on the AI bills we track since the last issue.
Docket Room's nightly check found no status change, hearing notice or amendment on the five AI bills we track since Thursday's send, and no new AI bill in its feed of every legislature; Nevada's new prefiles and Michigan's new House bills are not AI bills. Act is 12 or more, Watch is 7 to 11, Noise is under 7. The score adds up stage, coverage, copies in other states, a date inside ten days, momentum and penalties, and we print it so you can disagree with it.
3️⃣ The Three
NY S 9051-B, unsafe AI companion features for minors: signed Oct. 27, in force Jan. 1, 2027, AG penalties up to $25,000 per violation. Act, 18.
CO SB 26-189, the Automated Decision-Making Technology Act (Ch. 131): takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, with the AG's disclosure and review rules due the same day. Act, 12.
OR HB 3546, Oregon's separate rate class for data centers of 20 MW or more: the PUC votes on Pacific Power's settlement Nov. 13. Watch, 11.
📜 The Bill · DC B 26-0524, Distribution of False Sexual Imagery Prohibition Amendment Act · ⚪ Noise 6
Coverage test. You are covered if you knowingly distribute or disclose a "false sexual image" of an identified or identifiable person to anyone other than that person, "including making the image accessible on the internet" (new Sec. 5a(b)(1)(A)). A false sexual image is a sexual image or audio recording "created or altered through the use of digital technology" that a reasonable person would believe depicts the person, where production was "substantially dependent upon technical means" rather than physical or verbal impersonation (new D.C. Code Sec. 22-3051(1B)). The duties land on whoever shares the image. The bill writes no duty for platforms or AI tool makers, and its one new exemption is for FCC licensees engaged in activities regulated under the Communications Act (Sec. 22-3055(c)).
Obligations
Do not distribute or disclose a false sexual image without the depicted person's consent when the intent is to alarm, sexually abuse, humiliate, harass or degrade them, to sexually arouse or gratify anyone, or to receive financial gain (second degree, Sec. 5a(b)). Due the effective date, after Mayor approval and the 60-day congressional review (Sec. 5). Penalty: misdemeanor, up to 180 days and a fine under D.C. Code Sec. 22-3571.01 (our reading: up to $1,000). Not a verified quote; treat as our reading.
First degree applies when the same conduct comes within five years of a prior conviction under the section, is done with intent to cause violence or bodily harm, or is reckless as to the depicted person being under 16 (defendant at least four years older), or under 18 with the defendant in a position of trust or authority (Sec. 5a(a)). Due the effective date. Penalty: felony, up to 2 years and a fine under Sec. 22-3571.01 (our reading: up to $12,500). Not a verified quote; treat as our reading.
Platforms and AI developers: no takedown, notice or design duty is written; the only added defense covers Communications Act licensees. Due none. Penalty: none in this bill. Not a verified quote; treat as our reading.
Delta. Against current D.C. law: Secs. 22-3052 to 22-3054 cover only authentic sexual images, and Sec. 7-2161 et seq. gives victims a civil remedy; Councilmember Henderson's statement says neither reaches AI-made or edited images as a crime. The bill adds that crime and leaves the civil side to existing law. Against the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act (Public Law 119-12, May 19, 2025), which the statement says this bill aligns with: the federal law also makes covered platforms remove reported images, and D.C. adds no platform duty.
Owners. Trust and Safety (synthetic intimate imagery policy, already shaped by the federal removal process); Legal (no platform liability here, but watch for a takedown amendment at markup); Government Affairs (testimony Monday); Product, only if you ship image or voice generation a D.C. user could turn on a real person.
Similar bills.
US S 146, TAKE IT DOWN Act: Public Law 119-12, criminal penalties plus platform removal (0.645).
TX SB 441: enacted, in force Sept. 1, 2025, crime plus civil liability for AI-made intimate images.
CO SB 25-288: signed June 2, 2025, criminal and civil actions for intimate digital depictions (0.657).
ME LD 1944: signed June 20, 2025, technology-facilitated sexual abuse (0.728).
Nothing clears our 0.75 similarity bar, so the score counts no copies.
Next date. Monday, Nov. 9, 10:30 a.m.: Judiciary and Public Safety Committee public hearing, Room 123, Wilson Building, with B 26-0056 on the same agenda. If it moves, it needs a committee markup, two Council readings, the Mayor's signature and 60 days of congressional review before it takes effect.
Verification. Docket Room's record is single-source and has no text ingested, so the coverage test and duties above are our reading of the introduced bill on the D.C. Council's LIMS site; 0 quotes are tool-verified, and the fine amounts are our reading of Sec. 22-3571.01, not the bill. Docket Room's model gives committee passage a 6 percent chance, citing no cosponsors, though the introduction lists Chairman Phil Mendelson and Councilmembers Nadeau, Frumin, Bonds, Lewis George and Allen as co-introducers. Score: stage 1, coverage 1, copies 0, hearing inside ten days 2, momentum 0, penalty 2. It was Monday's Bill; it returns because its hearing is Monday and no higher-scoring bill with a date inside ten days is eligible (OR HB 3546, TX SB 6 and S 5653 were the last three Bills).
For your team. D.C.'s Judiciary committee hears B 26-0524 on Monday; it would make sharing an AI-made sexual image of a real person without consent a misdemeanor, and a felony of up to two years for repeat offenders, intent to cause harm or child victims. It puts no duty on platforms or AI tool makers; the only carve-out is for FCC licensees. Our federal TAKE IT DOWN removal process already covers the content it targets, so this stays a watch item unless a takedown amendment appears at markup.
📅 Dates
This week's AI hearings
Nothing else is noticed on the AI bills we track inside two weeks: D.C.'s Nov. 9 hearing on B 26-0524, The Bill above, is the only one, and it is on the board below with every other dated item.
Deadline Board · next 30 days
Nov. 9: Senate returns after the midterms; S 5653, the Capito-Lee-Heinrich-Whitehouse permitting bill with data center ratepayer rules, awaits floor action; Heinrich said Nov. 4 Democrats will not wait for the new Congress (US) · Docket Room
Nov. 9: SEC roundtable on machine-understandable data and "super intelligence," 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., 100 F Street NE and livestreamed (Release 2026-106) (US)
Nov. 9: D.C. Council Judiciary and Public Safety hearing on B 26-0524, the Distribution of False Sexual Imagery Prohibition Amendment Act, 10:30 a.m. (DC) · Docket Room
Nov. 9: Australian Senate inquiry into the Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026, which passed the House Oct. 28 and covers AI chatbots; report due late November (AU)
Nov. 9: Mexico, Mo., public hearing and 4 p.m. comment deadline on its data center ordinance (MO)
Nov. 12: Gilbert, Ariz., council revisits the data center zoning amendment (650-foot residential buffer, no drinking water for cooling) postponed Oct. 20 (AZ)
Nov. 12: Effingham County Industrial Development Authority and OpenAI affiliate Octans GA LLC due to answer the open-meetings suit over the Project Camellia land deal (extension granted); plaintiffs moved for summary judgment Oct. 27 (GA)
Nov. 13: Oregon PUC vote on Pacific Power's data center cost-assignment settlement under HB 3546 (OR) · Docket Room
Nov. 13: Pennsylvania PUC: pre-conference comments due (eFile) for its Nov. 17 technical conference on large computational load cost allocation (PA)
Nov. 14: Dixon, Calif., 45-day data center and battery storage moratorium expires unless extended (CA)
Nov. 15: FERC: RTO and ISO responses due on pro forma large-load cost-recovery agreements (mid-November) (US)
Nov. 15: N.C. Utilities Commission decision expected on the Duke Energy large-load tariff settlement with the Public Staff, Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft (mid-November) (NC)
Nov. 16: Newsom's deadline for agency recommendations on lab monitors and an AI kill switch (CA)
Nov. 16: Raleigh staff publish draft data center regulations for public feedback (NC)
Nov. 16: Nevada PUC Phase 3 hearings on NV Energy's 20-year resource plan; final order targeted for mid-December (Docket 26-05007) (NV)
Nov. 16: Pitt County, N.C., commissioners' public hearing on a temporary data center moratorium (set unanimously Oct. 19) (NC)
Nov. 16: Week Anthropic is targeting for its IPO (per WSJ) (US)
Nov. 17: Loudoun County Board of Supervisors vote on the resolution pausing legislative data center and substation applications for up to 12 months, retroactive to Sept. 15 (deferred from Oct. 20 for more staff work) (VA)
Nov. 17: Effingham County, Ga., commissioners take up OpenAI affiliate Octans GA LLC's Project Camellia site plan again after tabling it unanimously Nov. 3 over noise and a berm along Hodgeville Road (GA)
Nov. 17: Pennsylvania PUC technical conference on data center and other large-load cost allocation, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Commonwealth Keystone Building, Harrisburg (morning livestream); post-conference comments due Dec. 18 (PA)
Nov. 18: Memphis City Council budget session with MLGW on the three-year water and gas increases, including the new data center water class at 30 percent a year; committee Nov. 24; rates effective January 2027 if approved (TN)
Nov. 19: EPA's written and oral response due to Sen. Warnock and Rep. Hank Johnson on regulating diesel backup generators at data centers (letter dated Oct. 22) (US)
Nov. 19: New York City DCWP public hearing, 11 a.m., and written comment deadline on its proposed automated customer service rule (AI disclosure, one-step transfer to a human, three-year records) (NY)
Nov. 20: San Francisco and Oakland 45-day data center moratoriums expire unless extended (CA)
Nov. 20: San Joaquin County, Calif., 45-day data center moratorium (unincorporated areas) expires unless extended (CA)
Nov. 23: Mexico, Mo., council vote on its data center ordinance, 6 p.m. (MO)
Nov. 30: US-China Super Intelligence Dialogue: first exchange due by November under the Sept. 26 summit readout (US)
Nov. 30: Mexico, Mo., data center moratorium expires (extended Oct. 26) (MO)
Nov. 30: Anthropic's Nasdaq listing (ticker ANT), which its Nov. 2 amended S-1 says it expects before the end of November (US)
Dec. 1: Orange County, Fla., staff return with a temporary data center moratorium (early December) (FL)
Dec. 1: Denton City Council final consideration of the moratorium (early December) (TX)
Dec. 1: Character.AI's court-supervised sale expected to close (late November or early December); the platform is wound down if no viable bid emerges (US)
Dec. 1: Clarksville, Ark., data center bond referendum (Ballotpedia) (AR)
Dec. 2: EU AI Act Article 50 text-marking duty applies to systems already on the market; OpenAI textGrain rollout in the EU runs to this date (EU)
Dec. 3: Cromwell, Conn., Planning and Zoning hearing on the data center zoning amendment application, during the six-month application freeze adopted Nov. 5 (CT)
Dec. 4: Hayward, Calif., 45-day data center moratorium (adopted Oct. 20) expires unless extended, up to two years (CA)
75 more dated items beyond 30 days are on the full board. New dates are added from every issue; passed dates roll off.
🏗️ Local Moratorium Tracker · changed this week
Cromwell, CT: moratorium; 6 months; new data center applications; adopted by Planning and Zoning Commission Nov. 5; rejected a 12-month pause in September; zoning amendment hearing Dec. 3; runs to May 5, 2027.
Guilford County, NC: moratorium; 18 months; data center development (final ordinance text not yet released); adopted unanimously Nov. 5 (board first weighed 180 days; residents sought 32 months); runs to May 5, 2028.
Casey County, KY: moratorium; 12 months; construction, development and operation of data centers and data center energy systems, unincorporated areas; adopted by majority vote of the Fiscal Court, Nov. 4; runs to Nov. 4, 2027.
Brownsville, TX: moratorium; 90 days; high-intensity data processing facilities, city and ETJ; adopted on final reading Nov. 4; city expects one 90-day extension; runs to Feb. 3, 2027.
El Dorado, KS: ban (ballot question); voters leading for the ban, 2,966 to 1,183, in unofficial Nov. 3 results.
Emporia, KS: ban (ballot question); voters leading for the ban, 4,346 to 2,891, in unofficial Nov. 3 results; legal challenge pending.
Sunbury, OH: charter ban adopted by voters; permanent; 25 MW; affects Amazon's proposed $2 billion project; adopted by voters 2,809 to 763 (78.6%) Nov. 3, unofficial; council moratorium runs to Jan. 31, 2027.
Hubbard, OH: ban adopted by voters; permanent; all data centers; adopted 2,622 to 802 Nov. 3, unofficial and incomplete.
Trenton, OH: ban adopted by voters (Issue 17); permanent; 25 MW; blocks annexation for a 1,000 MW Amazon campus; about 80 percent yes on early returns Nov. 3.
Oregon, OH: charter amendment restricting data centers (Issue 25); targets a proposed Vantage project of about $1 billion; ballot text prohibits data center construction; passed with about 60 percent Nov. 3, unofficial (13abc).
Ashville, OH: voters reversed the EdgeConneX development deal; about 82 percent Nov. 3, unofficial.
Madison County townships, IL: advisory questions on future data center development; Chouteau, Granite City, Nameoki and Venice townships; nonbinding; all four voted no, 74 to 83 percent, Nov. 3.
11 more changed this week. Tracker holds 195 jurisdictions; 128 across 37 states have an adopted pause, ban, rate rule or executive order, and the rest are proposed or pending. The full table is below.
Your Docket Room Pro seat is included with Dispatch Pro. Track any bill above with one click once you are signed in. Need your code again? Reply to any issue.
The working layer under this briefing is The Docket, in Dispatch Pro
What moved in all 50 states since the last issue, which AI bills actually matter this week, and exactly what they would make you do, by when: obligations, deadlines and penalties pulled from the bill text and verified, similar bills in other states, every hearing and effective date we have reported, plus a Docket Room Pro seat ($49/mo on its own).
Today for Pro readers: no AI bill moved since Thursday; this week's three; The Bill on DC B 26-0524 before Monday's hearing, with 3 obligations read from the bill; and, because it is Friday, the full tables inside: all 109 open dates and all 195 jurisdictions on the moratorium tracker.
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