Microsoft President Brad Smith on new data center initiative

Summary

Microsoft President Brad Smith joins CNBC's Eamon Javers to discuss Microsoft's new AI data-center principles. Smith says the company will address local concerns about electricity, water, jobs, taxes, and skills, and promises its data centers will not increase local electricity prices. The discussion also covers political blowback, White House engagement, and the tech sector's responsibility to pay for its power costs. For investors, the interview highlights how AI infrastructure growth is increasingly tied to community and regulatory risk management.

• Microsoft unveiled five principles for AI data-center buildouts.
• The commitments cover electricity, water, jobs, taxes, and skills.
• Smith says data centers should not raise local electricity prices.
• Local communities are asking pointed questions about power, water, and jobs.
• Microsoft says it remains in dialogue with the White House and federal agencies.
• The administration is pushing AI and tech companies to pay their own electricity costs.
• The interview frames AI infrastructure growth as dependent on local trust.