Statement from President Biden on Executive Order to Advance U.S. Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure

The United States is leading the world on the frontier of artificial intelligence (AI). Cutting-edge AI will have profound national security implications and enormous potential to improve the lives of Americans if harnessed responsibly, whether to help cure disease or ensure security communities by mitigating the effects of climate change. However, we cannot take our lead for granted.

We will not let America fall behind in 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.

That’s why today I’m signing a historic executive order to accelerate the speed at which we build the next generation of AI infrastructure here in America, in a way that improves economic competitiveness, national security, security of AI and clean energy.

This executive order will direct the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to lease federal sites where the private sector can build cutting-edge AI infrastructure at high speed and scale. These efforts aim to accelerate the clean energy transition in a way that is responsible and respectful of local communities, and in a way that does not impose new costs on American families.

These efforts will also help position America to become the global leader in clean energy deployment amid strategic competition abroad. Part of this new capacity will also be reserved for small businesses and startups. This renewed government-industry partnership will ensure that the United States continues to lead the AI ​​era.

President Biden issues executive order to advance U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence infrastructure

Today, President Biden issued an executive order to ensure American leadership in artificial intelligence (AI) and ensure that the infrastructure necessary for advanced AI operations – including large-scale data centers and new clean energy infrastructure – can be built quickly and at scale here in the United States.

Building AI infrastructure in the United States is a national security imperative. As AI’s capabilities expand, so do its implications for the safety and security of Americans. National data centers for training and operating powerful AI models will help the United States facilitate the safe and secure development of AI, harness AI for national security, and prevent adversaries from accessing powerful systems at the expense of our military and national security. It will also help prevent America from becoming dependent on other countries for access to powerful AI tools.

Building AI infrastructure is also vital to America’s continued economic competitiveness. AI is poised to have far-reaching effects across our entire economy, including healthcare, transportation, education and beyond, and it is too important to outsource. Additionally, the significant and growing electricity needs of large-scale AI operations provide a new opportunity to advance U.S. leadership in clean energy technologies that will power the economy. This infrastructure can and should be built without increasing costs to American consumers and in a way that supports continued progress in clean energy commercialization and deployment.

Today’s executive order enables the development of AI infrastructure that protects national security, improves competitiveness, powers AI with clean energy, improves AI security, keeps prices low for consumers, demonstrates responsible ways to evolve new technologies and promotes a competitive AI ecosystem. As described below, the Executive Order directs agencies to take sweeping steps to accelerate the development of large-scale AI infrastructure on federal sites, while directing the imposition of key requirements and safeguards on developers building on these sites.

Accelerate the development of AI infrastructure

The executive order directs certain agencies to make federal sites available for AI data centers and new clean energy facilities, to facilitate the interconnection of this infrastructure to the electric grid, to promptly fulfill permitting obligations and advance transportation development around federal sites. To accelerate the development of AI infrastructure, agencies will rely on their authorities to:

• Lease federal sites owned by the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Energy (DOE) to host gigawatt-scale AI data centers. The DOD and DOE will select sites where the private sector can build AI data centers and clean energy facilities based on the accessibility of those sites to high-capacity transmission infrastructure and the minimization of negative effects on communities, the natural environment and commercial resources. After selecting the sites, DOD and DOE will conduct competitive bidding to lease these sites to build, own, and operate large-scale AI infrastructure, all at private expense.

• Catalyze the deployment of a new generation of clean energy to support AI infrastructure. Developers selected to build on DOD and DOE sites will be required to bring sufficient clean energy generation resources online to meet the entire electricity needs of their data centers, in accordance with applicable law. To support these efforts, the Department of the Interior will identify lands it manages that are suitable for clean energy and can accommodate data centers on DOE and DOD sites, while improving permitting processes for geothermal projects. DOE will take additional steps to promote distributed energy resources, advance the siting of clean generation resources at existing interconnection points, and support the safe and responsible deployment of nuclear energy.

• Prioritize full and timely authorization of AI infrastructure at federal sites. Agencies will prioritize and dedicate personnel to permitting this infrastructure in a timely manner, and DOD will immediately undertake environmental analyzes that will improve the timeliness and accuracy of future site-specific reviews. Agencies will identify other opportunities to support rapid permitting at these sites, such as by applying or establishing “categorical exclusions” – the most expeditious form of review under the National Conservation Policy Act. environment – ​​for infrastructure that does not significantly affect the environment.

• Accelerate transportation development around federal sites. To help ensure the timely operation of AI infrastructure at federal sites, DOE will take appropriate steps to coordinate with developers in constructing, funding, facilitating, and planning the upgrade and the development of transmission lines around these sites. To facilitate this work, DOE will also collect information to improve transportation planning in these regions, such as utility data on transportation congestion. Additionally, DOD, DOE, and the Department of Commerce will support producers of transformers and other network components critical to AI infrastructure, including through appropriate actions to establish equipment reserves, as Federal agencies are exploring loan guarantee programs to advance AI infrastructure development.

• Facilitate the interconnection of AI infrastructures to the electricity grid. DOE will engage utilities on their needs for interconnecting AI infrastructure at federal sites and on opportunities to accelerate interconnection through grid enhancement technologies, operational changes, and other measures . DOE will also share information on underutilized interconnection points that can serve federal sites and on clean energy projects that have pre-existing interconnection approvals but are not yet constructed.

• Guarantee low electricity prices for consumers. Developers selected to build on DOD and DOE sites will be required, consistent with applicable law, to pay all costs of constructing and operating the AI ​​infrastructure so that such development does not increase prices electricity for consumers. The agencies will also conduct a study on the effects of all AI data centers on electricity prices, and DOE will provide technical assistance to state utility commissions regarding electricity rate designs which could make it possible to connect new large customers to clean energy.

• Advance the development of AI infrastructure by allies and partners. The State Department will collaborate with allies and partners on steps to build trusted AI infrastructure around the world. This work will support global efforts to advance the development of clean energy technologies, such as small modular nuclear reactors; catalyze investments in AI infrastructure; and strengthen the safety and security of data centers.

Lease requirements for developers on federal sites. AI infrastructure development must not only advance national security and competitiveness, but also support U.S. leadership in clean energy, a competitive technology ecosystem, low consumer prices, the workers who build the infrastructure of AI and nearby communities. To hold AI developers accountable, the Executive Order outlines certain contractual obligations that DOD and DOE will impose on developers at Federal sites, consistent with applicable law. These obligations include:

• Pay the full cost of building, operating and maintaining AI infrastructure— including costs of building new data centers and clean energy facilities, transmission system development and upgrades.

• Acquire new clean energy generation resources that can be delivered to the data center and that precisely match their power and capacity needs. This development will prevent electricity prices from rising and advance U.S. energy leadership.

• Strengthen laboratory security requirements and assess national security implications of AI models developed at federal sitesThe assessments will assess safety and security risk patterns and their potential to advance national security objectives.

• Adhering to high work standards, promote positive labor relations and pay workers prevailing wages.

• Buy an appropriate share of domestically manufactured semiconductors to help ensure a strong domestic semiconductor supply chain.

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