On Wednesday, President Donald Trump used Truth Social to press data center companies to cut financial deals with towns so projects get a warmer welcome. He wrote that operators should pay both the broader community and, in his words, "and/or individuals within the community, a 'dividend.'"
Trump added, "I have watched the process closely, and Data Centers that were highly unpopular in a certain area, have become extremely popular when a financial deal is struck. MAKE DEALS, and get them built!!! GREAT FOR THE U.S.A." In a separate post at about 1.37 a.m. ET, he said, "New and large, in some cases gigantic, Data enters are mandated by me to make their own electricity, and give or sell any excess back to the local community, or grid, and therefore there is electric price increase. In fact, there could be a substantial decrease."
Data centers have turned into a political flashpoint heading into November's midterm elections, with opposition building over environmental impacts and several states weighing moratoriums.
Asked about the dividend idea, Nebius Chief Revenue Officer Marc Boroditsky told CNBC the company is "100% in principle" having conversations about putting money into local communities. Speaking with CNBC's Arjun Kharpal at Nvidia's GTC Berlin, he said there could be "some sort of way where the rewards are actually funneled back to the community."
Boroditsky pointed to tax receipts already flowing to local coffers and said he could imagine a more direct form of economic benefit. He added, "A dividend is being paid in different forms - investing in education, job development, overall economic development. The concept that the president identified... it's not crazy to consider something like that." CNBC also aired a 9:17 video segment featuring his remarks.
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Data center stocks have been under pressure this week amid concern over sector finances. With AI infrastructure getting pricier, operators are leaning more on debt markets to fund deals. HSBC CEO Georges Elhedery told CNBC's Dan Murphy, "One has to be selective," urging scrutiny of tenant quality and contract pricing, since not every agreement can be backed with the same confidence.
Water draw, electricity consumption, power prices, and massive land needs are front and center. Power availability has become a major constraint, with U.S. and European grids inundated by requests from energy-intensive facilities such as data centers. Crusoe CEO Chase Lochmiller said in Berlin, "Energy is always a bottleneck, and trying to find powered land and areas that we can build large-scale AI factories is a big focus for us," adding that policy approvals and local engagement are increasingly part of getting sites online.
Some facilities can act as flexible demand, dialing usage up or down to support grid stability. Big cloud operators have also inked agreements to help finance grid upgrades. Even so, some experts caution the AI surge could ultimately lift electricity prices.
If builders start sharing cash flows with neighbors and producing on-site power with the option to sell surplus back to the grid, the math on data centers changes. That touches everything from project returns to how contracts are structured and which regions win new capacity. For investors, track who secures local buy-in, how they handle power constraints, and whether financing tilts even further toward debt as the AI buildout accelerates.
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