President Biden today signed an Executive Order to facilitate building the infrastructure needed for AI. Its goal is to enable the country to set up the necessary infrastructure for AI while balancing environmental concerns.
“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,” the White House wrote in a press release.
The Executive Order directs agencies such as the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Energy (DOE) to make federal sites available for use by the private sector to build AI data centers and new clean power facilities.
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According to the Biden Administration, building AI infrastructure within the country is crucial for ensuring national security, as it prevents foreign adversaries from accessing these AI systems, which could have a negative impact on military and national security. It also allows the U.S. to avoid being dependent on other countries for AI tools.
The Administration also believes it is important for economic competitiveness, since AI will have large impacts across health care, transportation, education, and more.
Scaling up AI will place additional demands on the energy grid, so the other main focus of the Executive Order is meeting those demands using clean energy technologies.
Builders who are selected to lease DOD and DOE sites to create new AI data centers will be required to bring clean energy generation centers online to support these new facilities.
The DOD will perform environmental analyses immediately and the agencies will also work on identifying opportunities to expedite permitting, such as establishing “categorical exclusions” when the environment will not be significantly impacted. The DOE will also coordinate with site developers on constructing, financing, facilitating, and planning upgrades of transmission lines at the sites.
Additionally, the site developers will be required to ensure that the cost of building and operating infrastructure doesn’t raise electricity costs for consumers.
“Today’s Executive Order enables an AI infrastructure buildout that protects national security, enhances competitiveness, powers AI with clean energy, enhances AI safety, keeps prices low for consumers, demonstrates responsible ways to scale new technologies, and promotes a competitive AI ecosystem,” the White House wrote.
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