President Biden’s Final Push in AI Industry
Last-Minute Executive Order on AI Industry
With less than a week left in office, President Joe Biden is not done leaving his mark on the AI industry. President Biden issued an executive order on Tuesday that will allow private sector AI companies to lease federal sites owned by the Department of Defense and Department of Energy in order to build AI data centers.
Leasing Federal Sites for AI Data Centers
Companies that build data centers on these sites will be required to bring online enough clean energy resources to match the electricity needed to power the data centers. This is not a grant program, and AI companies that build data centers on these federal sites will need to pay the full cost to build, operate, and maintain them.
Strengthening U.S. Global Leadership on AI
The White House stated that this order is meant to strengthen and secure the U.S.’s global leadership on AI and prevent domestic AI companies from depending on other countries to access AI tools and infrastructure. The proper resources will be awarded for these departments to ensure they can inspect and approve bids for federal sites quickly and efficiently.
The Emphasis on Renewable Energy
The executive order’s emphasis on renewable energy is notable. Data centers currently consume 4% of all the U.S.’s power, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, and that figure is expected to grow to 9% by the end of the decade. Overall, data center power demand is expected to double over the next five years, according to a report by JLL.
Recent Developments in AI Industry
This executive order comes just one day after the Biden Administration announced a new set of rules and guidelines regarding AI chip exports that imposed further restrictions on a number of countries, including adversaries like China and Russia, while also imposing a 50,000 chip quota for the majority of the rest of the world.
A Note of Caution
The caveat is that these orders come just a week before Donald Trump returns to the presidency, where he is expected to reverse a lot of Biden administration policies.
Conclusion
President Biden’s final push in the AI industry is a significant move to strengthen the U.S.’s global leadership and promote the use of renewable energy in data centers. While this executive order is a step in the right direction, it remains to be seen how it will be received by the next administration.
FAQs
Q: What does the executive order allow?
A: The executive order allows private sector AI companies to lease federal sites owned by the Department of Defense and Department of Energy to build AI data centers.
Q: What are the requirements for AI companies building data centers on these federal sites?
A: AI companies will need to bring online enough clean energy resources to match the electricity needed to power the data centers and pay the full cost to build, operate, and maintain them.
Q: What is the purpose of the executive order?
A: The purpose of the executive order is to strengthen and secure the U.S.’s global leadership on AI and prevent domestic AI companies from depending on other countries to access AI tools and infrastructure.
