Biden signs executive order to ensure power for AI data centers

David Shepardson - Reuters - 14/01
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday to provide federal support to address massive energy needs for fast-growing advanced artificial intelligence data centers, the White House said.
  • Biden order vows to address dramatic needs for power for AI data centers
  • Energy, Defense departments will lease sites to host gigawatt-scale AI data centers
  • US forecasts AI centers will need as much as five gigawatts of capacity by 2028
WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday to provide federal support to address massive energy needs for fast-growing advanced artificial intelligence data centers, the White House said.
The order calls for leasing federal sites owned by Defense and Energy departments to host gigawatt-scale AI data centers and new clean power facilities - to address enormous power needs on a short time frame.
Biden said the order will "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."
The order also requires companies tapping federal land for AI data centers to purchase an "appropriate share" of American-made semiconductors. The number of purchases required would be worked out on a case-by-case ...
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