The Biden administration is launching a task force on artificial intelligence data center infrastructure, one of several new efforts to quicken the pace of new data center development.
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The new initiatives, which include steps to facilitate permitting and access to power for data center construction, emerged following a meeting last week between White House officials and leaders from top AI and data center firms, the White House said in a release.
The group, which featured executives from QTS, Microsoft, CoreWeave and OpenAI, discussed how the federal government can facilitate the build-out of new data centers as the industry struggles with power shortages in key markets and growing construction timelines, according to the release.
The new Task Force on AI Datacenter Infrastructure, led by the National Economic Council, National Security Council and the White House deputy chief of staff’s office, is intended to coordinate the administration’s policy pertaining to AI data center development.
According to the White House, the group will work with the AI and data center industries to establish direct communication channels with key federal agencies and ensure these agencies “properly prioritize AI datacenter development to reflect the importance of these projects to American national security and economic interests.”
The administration also announced efforts to speed up permitting for data centers, pledging to increase technical assistance to federal, state and local authorities that handle permitting processes. According to the White House, a permitting council will work with AI data center developers to set timelines for federal action and direct funds to agencies that accelerate permitting for clean energy projects supporting data centers.
At the same time, the Department of Energy is creating an AI data center engagement team, which will assist data center developers in finding power and developing new solutions to the industry’s increasingly acute energy crisis. The DOE will also continue looking for opportunities to partner with the data center industry in efforts to repurpose old coal power plants for new energy projects.
Attendees of Tuesday’s White House AI summit included QTS CEO Chad Williams, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and C-suite executives from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google and Meta. The panel was also attended by White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and more than a dozen other high-ranking administration officials.
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