OpenAI Adds Yvette Eden Ruiz To Community Engagement Team From JPMorgan Amid Data Center Backlash

OpenAI has hired senior executive Yvette Eden Ruiz to join its growing Community Engagement team as opposition to data center development intensifies. Ruiz joins from JPMorgan Chase, where she spent 12 years. She announced her new role on LinkedIn.

"I hesitated to post this, in part because the conversation around data centers has become so politicized. Communities have real questions that deserve honest answers, but the discourse is too often shaped by misinformation and easy extremes. I’ve always tried to approach big, complicated issues with curiosity, candor, and a willingness to hold competing truths. That is part of why this work matters to me.

"OpenAI has an extraordinary opportunity to set a new standard for how the infrastructure powering the next era of AI is built well and responsibly. My work focuses on helping ensure communities are stronger because OpenAI is there."

Ruiz said major investments should create lasting value for local communities. OpenAI has pledged to fund grid upgrades caused by its data center expansion to help prevent higher energy costs for residents.
Concerns over power, water, air quality, and AI job losses have fueled global opposition to data centers, leading to project delays, cancellations, and moratoriums in the US. The issue has also become a major political debate ahead of the midterms. OpenAI President Greg Brockman supports the pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future, which promotes data center development, although OpenAI says it does not direct the group’s activities.