The White House is signaling it may force Big Tech to foot the full bill for America’s AI boom.
Peter Navarro, President Donald Trump’s trade advisor, said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that data center builders must “internalize” the costs of the electricity, water, and grid strain their AI infrastructure creates.
Companies building data centers “need to pay for all of the costs,” and taxpayers should not shoulder the impact of the AI boom.
The White House has to “make sure the American people are not hurt,” he added.
Navarro’s comments come as the AI data-center boom faces mounting scrutiny over rising utility bills.
Tech giants are pouring hundreds of billions into infrastructure to power artificial intelligence. In November, Meta pledged $600 billion to expand AI technology, infrastructure, and its workforce. Apple said in August it would boost its US infrastructure plans by adding another $100 billion, bringing its total commitment to $600 billion.
At the same time, energy costs are rising. Electric and gas utilities sought $31 billion in rate hikes from regulators last year, more than twice the $15 billion requested the year before, according to a study published last month by PowerLines, a nonprofit that advocates for utility customers. Many power providers have cited surging electricity demand from large-scale data centers as a key reason for seeking higher rates.
President Donald Trump has pushed back on the idea that households should absorb those increases.
“I never want Americans to pay higher Electricity bills because of Data Centers,” Trump wrote last month in a post on Truth Social.
The “big technology companies who build them,” the president said, “must pay their own way.”
Navarro also said on Fox News that the US must keep expanding its data center capacity if it wants to remain “No.1 on the global stage in terms of AI.”
“We have to lead China and others on this,” Navarro said. “At the same time, we have to be mindful of the impacts across this nation.”
The US must stay ahead “not just for economic reasons but for national security reasons,” because AI “will be one of the most dangerous weapons of war,” he added.
Tech companies’ response
Some AI companies have moved to reassure policymakers that households won’t bear the cost of the industry’s rapid expansion.
Anthropic said on Thursday that it will cover 100% of the grid upgrade costs associated with its AI data centers.
“The country needs to build new data centers quickly to maintain its competitiveness on AI and national security,” Anthropic said. “But AI companies shouldn’t leave American ratepayers to pick up the tab.”
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 has taken a similar approach. Last month, the company said it would pay utility rates high enough to cover the electricity costs tied to its data centers and minimize the burden of data center expansion on surrounding communities.
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