OpenAI’s new pledge to stop using nondisclosure agreements with public officials leaves unresolved questions about existing contracts at a Wisconsin data center costing more than $15 billion, where its infrastructure partners previously signed two confidentiality agreements with a state economic development agency.
The agreements, signed in July 2025 by Oracle and Vantage Data Centers with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., were disclosed in an October 16 investigation by Wisconsin Watch.
The project, located in Port Washington, forms part of OpenAI’s Stargate infrastructure expansion. OpenAI confirmed Oracle and Vantage as its Wisconsin development partners in October 2025.
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But on Thursday, OpenAI announced that it would stop requiring public officials to sign NDAs during discussions or negotiations over future data center locations, according to Reuters.
The company also committed to making construction plans and projected traffic, noise, and lighting impacts available to residents. Proprietary information would remain protected.
Oracle had already announced a similar policy on November 2, saying it would no longer require confidentiality agreements with state or local governments for future AI data center projects. However, Oracle explicitly excluded commitments on behalf of other developers, saying it would encourage partners to adopt comparable practices.
Vantage also told Bloomberg on October 30 that it does not require state and local governments to sign NDAs. The statement accompanied nonbinding industry commitments to disclose data center electricity requirements, water consumption, and ownership structures.
The Wisconsin development, known as Lighthouse, is planned to contain four data centers providing nearly one gigawatt of AI computing capacity. The developer has outlined an investment exceeding $15 billion, more than 4,000 construction jobs, and over 1,000 long-term jobs associated with Vantage and Oracle. Completion is scheduled for 2028.
The confidentiality issue extends beyond the development itself. Wisconsin Watch reported that the state economic development agency had signed at least five NDAs involving data center projects, including agreements with developers in communities where local authorities had signed none.
The agency defended confidentiality provisions as a tool for protecting commercially sensitive information during investment negotiations.
OpenAI’s announcement follows November 3 elections in which 40 of 41 data center-related local ballot measures produced outcomes unfavorable to development, according to Reuters citing Ballotpedia. The measures included restrictions, advisory votes, and proposals to facilitate development.
