Michael Hernandez
14 January 2025•Update: 14 January 2025
WASHINGTON
Outgoing President Joe Biden signed Tuesday a new executive order meant to bolster the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure in the US by allowing the Departments of Defense and Energy to lease federal land for gigawatt-scale AI data centers.
"I am signing an historic Executive Order 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," he said in a statement.
"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 added.
The Energy and Defense Departments are now free to pick sites where private companies can build their AI data centers and clean power facilities, setting off a bid process for firms to win rights to build, own, and operate AI infrastructure there.
The firms are expected to operate the centers at full cost while also delivering enough clean energy for the projects to offset their associated mammoth consumption.
The Department of the Interior is tasked with helping private companies identify lands under its management that are suitable for the development of clean energy to power massive data centers.
The Energy Department will also assist in helping the companies to distribute the energy and support the "safe and responsible deployment of nuclear energy" where applicable, the White House said in a statement.
"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," said Biden.
