Leaders from the technology and energy industries in the United States met with senior officials from the Biden administration on Thursday, September 12th. The attendees discussed how to meet the significant infrastructure demands of artificial intelligence projects. The White House subsequently announced the establishment of an interdepartmental working group to help promote the development of data centers in the United States.
On September 13th, the Chief Executive Officer of OpenAI, Sam Altman, and the Chief Executive Officer of NVIDIA, Huang Renxun, met with senior officials from the Biden administration and other industry leaders at the White House to discuss how to meet the large-scale infrastructure needs of artificial intelligence (AI) projects.
At the meeting at the White House on Thursday, September 12th, attendees from the technology industry included Sam Altman, Huang Renxun, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, Ruth Porat, President of Google, Matt Garman, Head of Amazon Web Services, and Brad Smith, President of Microsoft. Government officials included Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor, and Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy. Attendees from the energy industry included Calvin Butler, CEO of Exelon, an energy provider.
Promoting substantial investment.
The rapid development of the AI industry requires significant investment in data centers and energy supply.
After the meeting, the White House announced the establishment of an interdepartmental working group to help promote the development of data centers in the United States and take measures to support the expedited permitting of these facilities, ensuring that the United States maintains its leadership position in the field of artificial intelligence.
The rapid growth of the AI industry has driven the surge in the construction of data centers in the United States. At the same time, the Chip and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act have also driven broader manufacturing growth.
OpenAI stated in a statement on Thursday, "Building additional infrastructure in the United States is crucial for the country's industrial policy and economic future." The company emphasized the economic benefits of investing in data center projects in the United States, including the potential to create 0.04 million jobs in multiple states.
According to the White House statement, the Department of Energy will also create an artificial intelligence datacenter participation team to guide data center owners and operators in better utilizing government loans, grants, and tax credits to help them find clean and reliable sources of electricity.
The Biden administration has stated that renewable energy sources such as wind energy and cecep solar energy, as well as improvements in battery storage and energy efficiency, are some of the best ways to meet the growing energy demands of data centers because they offer rapid scalability and cost competitiveness.
According to the US Department of Energy, these investments, along with data center expansions and other factors, are expected to drive a 15% to 20% increase in electricity demand over the next 10 years. The Department of Energy also noted last month that the recent growth in power demand driven by data centers is an opportunity to accelerate the development of clean energy solutions.
Google CEO Porat pointed out that the US energy infrastructure is crucial for ensuring US leadership in the emerging field of artificial intelligence. In a statement, she said, 'Today's White House meeting is an important opportunity to advance the work needed to modernize and expand the capacity of the US energy network.'