President Biden today issued an executive order that directs the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Energy (DoE) to lease Federal government sites and allow private sector companies to use them in order to “build frontier AI infrastructure at speed and scale” all while powering those facilities with new clean energy sources.
The order – which comes less than a week before the Trump administration takes office – presents a daunting task list to those Federal agencies and others – including the Interior Department – that would be most involved in the effort.
The top-line items on that list, according to the White House, are to: make Federal sites available for AI data centers and new clean power facilities; facilitate this infrastructure’s interconnection to the electric grid; fulfill permitting obligations expeditiously; and advance transmission development around Federal sites.
Timelines for Federal agency action included in the order – which is subject to cancellation or adjustment by the incoming administration – run from near-term dates like Feb. 28 of this year for DoE and DoD to identify potential Federal land sites, to the end of 2027 for the construction of clean energy facilities to power any data centers that may be built on those sites. The order envisions sites being chosen by June 2025.
On the energy front, the order also aims to avoid increased electricity prices for consumers, and would require data center developers to “pay all costs of building and operating AI infrastructure so that this development does not raise electricity prices for consumers.”
The order, President Biden said, aims to “accelerate the speed at which we build the next generation of AI infrastructure here in America, in a way that enhances economic competitiveness, national security, AI safety, and clean energy.”
“These efforts are designed to accelerate the clean energy transition in a way that is responsible and respectful to local communities, and in a way that does not impose any new costs on American families,” he said.
“We will not let America be out-built when it comes to the technology that will define the future, nor should we sacrifice critical environmental standards and our shared efforts to protect clean air and clean water,” he said.
The White House said the order will “ensure that the infrastructure needed for advanced AI operations – including large-scale data centers and new clean power infrastructure – can be built with speed and scale here in the United States.”
The order also calls the issue of domestic AI infrastructure one that represents a “national security imperative.”
“As AI’s capabilities grow, so do its implications for Americans’ safety and security,” the White House said.
“Domestic data centers for training and operating powerful AI models will help the United States facilitate AI’s safe and secure development, harness AI in service of national security, and prevent adversaries from accessing powerful systems to the detriment of our military and national-security,” the White House said, adding, “It will also help prevent America from growing dependent on other countries to access powerful AI tools.”
