The Current: Lame Duck Gov refuses to reveal details of meeting with AI operator and GA Power in
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The Tide: Kemp, OpenAI, Georgia Power meet
Meeting topics were not disclosed by the governor’s office or OpenAI.
by Maggie Leemaggie...@gmail.comJuly 6th, 2026 Why you can trust The Current
In May, as Georgians rallied at the polls and community meetings against power- and water-guzzling data centers, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp met with representatives of OpenAI about the AI industry-leading company’s business plans for the state.
While the meeting became public as part of Kemp’s schedule, neither the governor’s office, nor OpenAI or Georgia Power, whose representatives were also present, would elaborate on the topics discussed.
“The purpose of the meeting is to brief the governor on OpenAI’s activity in the state of Georgia. They will provide an overview of why Georgia and any specific sites are of interest, jobs and investment commitments, and OpenAI’s current strategy and timeline,” according to the one-page briefing memo prepared for May 20 by Kemp’s scheduling director. The Current GA obtained the document through an open records request.
It’s also unclear who called the meeting, let alone what business strategy OpenAI might be pursuing or contemplating in Georgia.
Records of Georgia’s state AI Advisory Council show that state staff are using ChatGPT to the tune of thousands of chats.
In 2025, Georgia opened a state Office of Artificial Intelligence, meant to bring together state agencies, companies and elected officials to “foster experimentation and development in AI and other emerging technologies.” Among its resources are 500 ChatGPT enterprise licenses for state employee use.
Beyond that AI product, OpenAI has been developing classified chatbot technology, which it recently sold to the Pentagon.
The company also leads an national AI data center project announced by President Donald Trump a day after his 2025 inauguration. Partnered with the software company Oracle and money from Japan’s SoftBank Group, the “Stargate” plan would see the three companies build $500 billion in data centers across the country.
Stargate has announced sites for data centers in Wisconsin, Texas and Minnesota. Despite local pushback in Saline Township, Mich., plans are moving forward there as well.
At the governor’s meeting in Atlanta, the listed OpenAI attendees included senior leaders in site readiness and development, economic development and power projects.
It’s unclear whether OpenAI is an investor in any existing data center in Georgia.
Georgia’s data center boom centers around metro Atlanta, and some are owned by shell corporations that makes it impossible to know whose computing goes on inside. No data centers are known to exist on the coast, but a request to rezone for one in Kingsland drew enough ire that the applicant withdrew the idea.
Kemp’s one-page briefing memo was the sole document provided by the governor’s office in response to an open record request for any documents prepared by his office before or after the meeting; or for any documents received from OpenAI. The meeting first came to light in The Current GA’s regular review of Kemp’s meeting calendar.
A spokesman for Kemp says he cannot comment on the governor’s “private conversations and meetings,” but noted that Kemp meets frequently with business executives to remain informed about developments in their industries.
As for Georgia Power’s role in the meeting, the utility provider said it “can’t discuss specific projects or potential customer agreements” and that its role is to ensure that businesses have access to “reliable and affordable electricity” when they locate or expand in the state.
An OpenAI spokesperson said via e-mail that they do not comment on or confirm private meetings. Instead of answers about their presentation to Kemp or Project Stargate in particular, they sent links to promotional material about those data center plans.
We will update this story if we hear more. Here’s how to send confidential tips to The Current GA.
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current GA staff.
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Type of Story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Tagged:AI, Brian Kemp, Chat GPT, data centers, Georgia Office of Artificial Intelligence, Georgia Power, Governing, Open AI, Project Stargate
Maggie Lee is a data reporter for The Current. She has been covering Georgia and metro Atlanta government and politics since 2008, contributing writing and data journalism over the years to Creative Loafing,... More by Maggie Lee