U.S. President Joe Biden Issues Executive Order to Boost Domestic AI Infrastructure and Reduce National Security Risks
President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Thursday aimed at accelerating domestic construction of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and addressing national security concerns surrounding the technology. The move empowers the Department of Defense and Department of Energy to lease federal sites for gigawatt-scale AI data centers.
The order also sets guidelines for AI developers to ensure that leased centers are not only built, operated, and maintained at full cost, but also deliver clean energy resources to match their capacity needs to prevent increases in electricity costs. Additionally, companies leasing federal lands will be required to purchase an “appropriate share” of U.S.-manufactured semiconductors and pay workers “prevailing wages.”
The order aims to accelerate the development of domestic AI infrastructure to meet the growing demand for AI technologies, which are poised to have significant impacts across various sectors, including healthcare, transportation, and education.
Global electricity consumption from data centers, AI, and the cryptocurrency sector is expected to double between 2022 and 2026, according to a report from the International Energy Agency. AI models, such as large language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, rely on data centers to train on vast amounts of data and generate sophisticated, human-like answers to user prompts.
However, AI developers have faced criticism over their environmental impact, with concerns over increased water consumption in cooling data centers. To address this, tech firms have been exploring alternative power sources, including nuclear power. Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have recently announced nuclear power deals to maintain their data centers.
The executive order is a significant step towards promoting the development of domestic AI infrastructure and addressing national security concerns, while also promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly practices in the industry.