Biden Signs Order For Energy Provision For AI Data Centres

President Joe Biden in the final days of his administration has signed an executive order to bolster energy infrastructure in the US to help power the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

The White House announced that President Biden signed the order on Tuesday on “advancing United States leadership in artificial intelligence infrastructure.” Essentially, the executive order provides federal support to help satisfy the huge energy requirements of AI data centres.

The order directs federal agencies to accelerate large-scale AI infrastructure development at government sites; and also orders certain federal agencies to make federal sites owned by the US Defense and Energy departments available for leasing, in order to host gigawatt-scale AI data centres as well as clean power facilities (i.e. geothermal, solar, wind, and nuclear energy).

AI infrastructure

Those federal agencies will also help facilitate the infrastructure’s connection into the American electrical grid, and help speed up the permitting process.

A report released by the US Department of Energy last month estimated that the electricity needed for data centres in the United States had tripled over the past decade, and is projected to double or triple again by 2028, when it could consume up to 12 percent of America’s electricity.

“Advances at the frontier of AI will also have significant implications for United States economic competitiveness,” the executive order states. “These imperatives require building AI infrastructure in the United States on the time frame needed to ensure United States leadership over competitors who, already, are racing to take the lead in AI development and adoption.”

“Building AI in the United States requires enormous private-sector investments in infrastructure, especially for the advanced computing clusters needed to train AI models and the energy infrastructure needed to power this work,” it adds. “Already, AI’s electricity and computational needs are vast, and they are set to surge in the years ahead. This work also requires secure, reliable supply chains for critical components needed to build AI infrastructure, from construction materials to advanced electronics.”

“With this order, I provide a plan for protecting national security, preserving our economic competitiveness, revitalizing our energy infrastructure, and ensuring United States leadership in AI,” said President Biden.

Leasing requirements

Besides ordering the leasing of federal locations for AI infrastructure projects, Biden’s executive order also has certain requirements for those taking part.

For example, it mandates that those companies utilising federal land purchase an “appropriate share” of American made processors.

The order states the departments of Defense and Energy have to each identify at least three sites where the private sector can build AI data centres.

The agencies will run “competitive solicitations” from private companies to build AI data centres on those federal sites, senior administration officials said.

It remains to be seen Biden’s executive order will survive when President-elect Donald Trump takes office next week.