OpenAI will keep investing in data centers despite results of midterms - CFO

OpenAI will continue to invest in artificial intelligence infrastructure despite voter opposition to data centers in Tuesday's midterm elections, CFO Sarah Friar said Friday.

"When I think about the midterms, I need to keep thinking about how do we keep investing to meet that customer demand," Friar told CNBC's Sara Eisen at the Citi TMT Leadership Summit in Pebble Beach, California. "It starts early with having built relationships with all of the hyperscalers, and it will continue to mean that we raise capital."

Voters rejected data center development across the country on Tuesday. Out of 41 local ballot measures across 10 states, voters backed restrictions or rejected pro-development measures in all but one, according to an analysis by Ballotpedia and additional results gathered by CNBC on Wednesday. Americans grew worried about potential environmental harm, higher utility bills and job loss.

The Nasdaq on Thursday posted its steepest drop in 19 months, led by declines in chipmaker and neocloud company shares tied to AI buildout. The stocks recovered partially on Friday.

Friar said the election results did not dramatically change anything for OpenAI. The company published a policy blueprint and commitments on Thursday that it pledged to apply to company-owned and operated data centers in the future.

"If the midterm means more focus on data centers and communities, we're going to keep doing the work to get into those communities and to build trust with them," Friar said.

OpenAI filed its prospectus confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June. Friar said Friday the company would continue to look into a 2027 debut. Anthropic, OpenAI's main rival, aims to list on the Nasdaq in mid-November.

Anthropic's revenue in the first nine months of the year rose roughly 1,200% to $33.2 billion, according to its prospectus. The company entered into purchase commitments and lease agreements with an aggregate committed spend of about $895.4 billion, substantially all related to compute and infrastructure.

OpenAI is in talks to raise funding at a $1.25 billion pre-money valuation, Friar said Friday. She said "a good CFO always raises money when she can" and that the round is ongoing.

"The demand for AI is real," Friar said. "I don't think anyone's arguing with that, or if they are, I think it's a losing argument."