Biden to issue executive order to bolster AI infrastructure in the US

With just days left in his administration, President Joe Biden will sign a new executive order focused on bolstering the infrastructure needed to for advanced AI operations in the U.S., according to the White House.

"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," Biden said in a Tuesday statement on the announcement.

The order will direct the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to lease federal sites where the private sector can build AI infrastructure "at speed and scale," he said.

"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," Biden added.

Tarun Chabra, deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for technology and national security, said on a call previewing the order that it's "really critical" for national security to establish a path for building the data centers and power infrastructure in the U.S.

"Domestic data centers for training and operating powerful AI models will help the United States facilitate AI's safe and secure development and harness AI in the service of our national security," he said. "It will also prevent our adversaries from accessing these powerful systems to the detriment of our military and our national security, while preventing the United States from growing dependent on other countries to access powerful AI tools."

Biden underscored the importance of AI in his remarks at the State Department on Monday.

"AI has the power to reshape, reshape economies, governments, national security, entire societies. And it must be the United States and our closest allies lead the way to ensure people's rights are respected, their safety is protected, and their data is secure," Biden said.

Officials on a call with reporters noted current strains on the AI market to make investments needed for large-scale operations saying their cost, power constraints and permitting challenges resulting in long lead times to bring data centers to market.

"The Executive Order directs certain agencies 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," according to a fact sheet on the announcement.

Specifically, the order will direct the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to identify at least three federal sites each they own for these types of developments and allow private sector companies to bid competitively on leases to build on the sites.