President Biden’s Final Push in the AI Sector: A Strategic Executive Order
With just days remaining in his term, President Joe Biden is making a significant move to influence the future of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. On Tuesday, he issued an executive order that paves the way for private AI companies to lease federal sites, specifically those owned by the Department of Defense and Department of Energy, for the purpose of constructing AI data centers.
Empowering AI Innovation with Federal Resources
Under this directive, companies will have the opportunity to establish data centers on these federal properties. However, there’s a crucial condition: they must integrate sufficient clean energy resources to meet their electricity demands. This initiative is not a subsidy; instead, AI companies are expected to cover all costs related to building, operating, and maintaining these centers.
“This order is designed to bolster and secure the U.S.’s global leadership in AI, ensuring that domestic AI companies have access to necessary tools and infrastructure without relying on foreign nations,” the White House emphasized in a press release.
{White House Press Release}
A Commitment to Renewable Energy
This executive order underscores a significant focus on renewable energy. Currently, data centers account for approximately 4% of all U.S. power usage—a number projected by the Electric Power Research Institute to rise to 9% by the decade’s end. According to JLL, demand from data centers is expected to double over the next five years.
Regulating Global AI Dynamics
This action closely follows another significant announcement from the Biden Administration: new rules and guidelines concerning AI chip exports. These regulations impose tighter restrictions on various countries, including geopolitical adversaries such as China and Russia, and set a 50,000-chip quota for most other nations worldwide.
The Political Horizon
These strategic decisions arrive just a week before former President Donald Trump is set to resume office. Speculation suggests that many of Biden’s policies might face reversals under Trump’s leadership.
