Trump calls on Big Tech to supply their own electricity for AI data centers

The big picture: With electricity bills rising due to surging demand from AI data centers, President Trump has called for technology companies to either build their own power plants or help finance new power generation facilities. The directive comes amid growing protests from rural communities over energy-intensive AI data centers that have been rapidly expanding across the country.

During this week's State of the Union address, Trump said he negotiated with leading artificial intelligence companies to establish a "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" aimed at shielding American households from rising electricity costs. The president did not identify the participating companies by name, but sources close to the administration say that Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle, and OpenAI are expected to participate.

According to officials, representatives from the companies are scheduled to attend a formal White House meeting on March 4 to sign a commitment to secure their own electricity supply ...