US leases government-owned land to advance AI infrastructure
By Si Ying Thian
The government is also looking at domestic data centres to harness AI for national security, develop safe and secure AI systems, and reduce dependence on other countries.
US President Joe Biden signing an executive order on safe, secure and trustworthy AI in October 2023. Image: Official White House photo by Adam Schultz
With ownership of some of the world’s biggest large-language models (LLMs), the US has been taking the global lead in artificial intelligence (AI) innovation.
But this innovation has been primarily led by private technology companies in the US.
With the US government signing an executive order yesterday, the public sector is stepping up to promote cleaner and more secure AI development, in continued collaboration with industry.
The order, which has the force of law, was signed by President Joe Biden, to build the “next generation of AI infrastructure” that enhances economic competitiveness, national security, AI safety and clean energy.
Some of the plans highlighted in the official statement include building large-scale data centres for training and operating AI models; clean energy projects to power AI usage; and imposing key requirements and safeguards on AI developers in these sites.
This will be a multi-agency effort, involving the US Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Interior, Department of Commerce and the Department of State.
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Domestic data centres and clean energy tech
With AI weaved in almost every other sector of the economy, the government’s role in building a secure AI infrastructure becomes ever more critical to maintain the country’s economic competitiveness.
“AI is poised to have large effects across our economy..., and it is too important to be offshored,” said Biden.
He highlighted the reasons behind supporting the setup of domestic data centres to train and operate AI models.
These include preventing adversaries from accessing these systems as that can be detrimental to national security, harnessing AI to boost national security, as well as developing safe and secure AI systems.
The US also sees an opportunity to advance clean energy technologies to meet AI’s energy demand, the statement said.
It also highlighted the importance of ensuring that electricity prices remain cost-effective for consumers despite the increased energy demand from these new data centres.
In this regard, developers selected to build on the sites are required to “pay all costs of building and operating AI infrastructure so that this development does not raise electricity prices for consumers.”
To help developers to manage the cost, the US government agencies involved will complete a study on the effects of all AI data centres on electricity prices, and work with the state public utility commissions on tariff designs to support their customers in accessing clean energy.
The Department of Commerce will further aid developers by ensuring that financial schemes, such as loan-guarantee programmes, are available for the latter to procure components critical for AI infrastructure development on these sites.
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Different agency roles
The key roles of the different US government agencies include leasing federal sites to the private sector for data centres and clean energy facilities, facilitating the infrastructure’s interconnection to the electric grid, supporting developers in meeting the requirements, and advancing transmission development around the sites.
DOD and DOE will be responsible for executing the bulk of the plans highlighted in the order.
For instance, both departments have been tasked to select federal sites for the private sector to build data centres and clean power facilities, and hold competitive tenders to lease these sites.
In assessing the sites, the agencies would have to consider how accessible the sites are to the high-capacity transmission infrastructure, and to minimise the negative impact on communities, the natural environment and commercial resources.
The order also outlined contractual obligations that both departments will impose on developers on federal sites, with requirements ranging from clean energy, AI safety and security, labor standards, to the purchase of domestically manufactured products.
On clean energy infrastructure, the Department of Interior will identify lands suitable for clean energy, while improving the permitting process for geothermal projects. The DOE will continue to explore distributing energy resources, advancing clean energy sources, and the safe and responsible deployment of nuclear energy.