Bloomberg reported that following a White House meeting with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and other tech leaders, OpenAI pitched a document to officials that called for the US to support the construction of five-gigawatt data centres — the equivalent of continuously powering 4 to 5 million homes.
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OpenAI contended that the mammoth data centre sites would help improve the economy and provide thousands of jobs, while also maintaining the country’s leadership in AI development.
The document shared with officials reportedly contained suggestions to introduce policies that favour building out data centre capacity.
Such giant sites would require intense levels of sustainable power — an issue compounded by already strained energy grids and labour shortages.
OpenAI's strategic partner, Microsoft, is currently working on scaling AI infrastructure projects in the US and around the world. Just last week, Microsoft struck a deal with the operator of the infamous Three Mile Island nuclear power plant to provide energy for its data centres.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is also working to this goal, having routinely complained about the need for increased digital infrastructure to support AI development.
Altman has personally invested in two nuclear energy startups, Helion and Oko, as well as thermal and solar energy startup Exowatt, which claims to be able to power data centre sites at a cost of just under $0.04 per kWh.
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