The White House has signaled it could force big tech companies to pay the entire cost of America’s AI boom.
President Donald Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that data center builders need to “internalize” the costs of electricity, water and grid strain that AI infrastructure creates.
Taxpayers shouldn’t bear the burden of the AI boom, as companies building data centers “need to cover all costs.”
The White House added: “We need to ensure that the American people are not harmed.”
Navarro’s comments come as the AI data center boom faces scrutiny over soaring utility costs.
Big tech is pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into infrastructure to power artificial intelligence. In November, Meta pledged $600 billion to expand its AI technology, infrastructure and workforce. In August, Apple announced it was beefing up its U.S. infrastructure plan with an additional $100 billion, bringing its total commitment to $600 billion.
At the same time, energy costs are rising. Last year, electric and gas companies asked regulators for $31 billion in rate increases, more than double the $15 billion they requested the year before, according to a study released last month by Powerlines, a nonprofit group that advocates for utility customers. Many power companies cite the surge in power demand from large data centers as the main reason for asking for higher rates.
President Donald Trump rejected the idea that households should absorb these increases.
“I don’t want Americans to pay higher electricity bills because of data centers,” President Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social last month.
The president said “the big tech companies that build them” “have to pay their own costs.”
Navarro also told Fox News that if the United States wants to remain “number one in the world in AI,” it must continue to expand its data center capacity.
“We have to lead China and other countries on this issue,” Navarro said. “At the same time, we have to be mindful of the impact on this country as a whole.”
He added that the United States must stay ahead “not just for economic reasons, but for national security reasons,” as AI “will become one of the most dangerous weapons of war.”
Technology company response
Some AI companies are working to reassure policymakers that households will not bear the costs of the industry’s rapid expansion.
Anthropic announced Thursday that it will cover 100% of grid upgrade costs associated with its AI data center.
“The country urgently needs to build new data centers to remain competitive in AI and national security,” Antropic said. “But AI companies should not leave that burden to U.S. ratepayers.”
The pledge follows the company’s November announcement that it plans to invest $50 billion in AI infrastructure, starting with facilities in Texas and New York.
Microsoft is taking a similar approach. The company announced last month that it would pay high enough utility rates to cover electricity costs associated with its data centers and minimize the impact of data center expansion on surrounding communities.
