WATCH: Trump hosts AI leaders to sign pledge that households will not incur increases in utility bills

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump invited technology companies to the White House on Wednesday to commit to developing their own power generation as he tries to ease tensions over the cost of electricity that data centers use to develop artificial intelligence.

Watch the event in the video player above.

“They need some help with PR because people think that if a data center goes up there, their electricity prices are going to go up,” Trump said. “It won’t happen.”

He watches: How power demand in data centers can help lower electricity prices

The president’s “protect taxpayers” pledge comes at a time when affordability has become a major concern for American people who are concerned that building artificial intelligence could lead to higher utility bills. Trump first announced his pledge during his State of the Union address last month, but provided few details

Communities across the country have seen a backlash against data centers over fears of rising electricity prices and concerns about pollution and water consumption. Opposition to higher energy prices was also a major factor in Democrats’ election wins last year in states including Georgia, Virginia and New Jersey.

The president has sought to deflect public concerns about artificial intelligence, arguing that the rapidly developing technology is essential for the United States to attract foreign investment and maintain its economic and military prowess. But it’s unclear whether the commitments will effectively protect Americans from rising electricity prices, which rose 6.3% over the past year, according to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index.

The president stressed that he realizes that energy demand will triple by 2035, largely due to artificial intelligence, which means the United States needs to significantly increase the construction of power plants. Construction spending on power generation jumped in 2022, but fell slightly after peaking in October 2023, according to the Census Bureau. Trump has also sought to cancel wind energy projects while upgrading coal — which contributes to climate change — as an energy source.

Companies committing to the pledge include: Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI, and Amazon.

He watches: The increasing environmental impact of power requirements in AI data centers

Under the terms of the pledge, the companies intend to build or purchase new power generation sources for their data centers and cover the costs of modernizing the infrastructure. Companies can also sell excess power generation to utilities for public consumption, as well as negotiate separate rate structures with utilities and hire locally to build their own data centers.

Energy experts have expressed skepticism that promises made by technology companies can slow rapidly rising electricity prices. While Trump said the pledge would force tech companies to produce their own electricity, experts said the deal likely would not be enforceable at the federal level. Electricity supply is mostly regulated at the state level and managed across regions, using market structures that vary across the country.

Jill Tauber, vice president of climate and energy litigation at Earthjustice, said actual policies should be in place rather than a signed pledge with unclear legal value.

“Data centers increase costs and pollution for communities across the country,” Tauber said in a statement. “More than just a pledge, we urgently need strong policies and protections to ensure data centers pay for themselves, detect and mitigate their impacts, and are powered by clean energy.”