Biden Issues Executive Order Governing AI Infrastructure
The White House issued an executive order covering artificial intelligence infrastructure plans in the United States.
With less than a week left in office, President Joe Biden signed an order on AI Tuesday (Jan. 14) aimed at making sure data centers can be constructed quickly.
In his order, Biden said the effort will allow the government to employ AI for national security measures while also boosting economic competitiveness in the U.S.
“These imperatives require building AI infrastructure in the United States on the time frame needed to ensure United States leadership over competitors who, already, are racing to take the lead in AI development and adoption,” the order said.
The order told federal agencies to accelerate large-scale AI infrastructure development at government properties, adding safeguards on developers building at the sites. It also ordered various agencies to open federal sites for new data centers and clean power plans.
“Cutting-edge AI will have profound implications for national security and enormous potential to improve Americans’ lives if harnessed responsibly, from helping cure disease to keeping communities safe by mitigating the effects of climate change,” Biden said in a Tuesday statement on the order.
Earlier this month, the U.S. and India made a pact based on investments and protections involving AI. Officials from the two countries plan to develop a government-to-government framework for promoting reciprocal investments in AI and aligning protections around the diffusion of the technology.
The two countries also plan to bolster cooperation around the national security applications of AI and the “safe, secure and trustworthy” development of AI.
Biden signed a comprehensive AI order in 2023, but President-elect Donald Trump has said he would overturn it, arguing the regulation hurts innovation. Trump himself issued the first executive order dealing with the technology in 2019, requiring federal agencies to make AI research and development a priority.
His pick for AI czar, noted regulation critic David Sacks, may need to address the need for infrastructure to support the technology.
“While foreign markets move quickly to build power systems for next-generation computing facilities, American utilities’ lengthy deployment timelines for new electrical capacity could redirect billions in tech investment abroad and reshape the global AI landscape,” PYMNTS wrote in November.
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