The Biden Administration is launching a task force to coordinate policy on AI data centre infrastructure, bringing together top government officials and tech industry leaders.
The group will be tasked with streamlining interagency coordination on policies that would affect data centre development operations, including rules on awarding new sites.
The Task Force will collaborate with AI industry leaders, such as Nvidia, Amazon, and OpenAI, to support data centre projects in meeting the country's AI needs, while ensuring they utilise clean and renewable energy sources.
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The Task Force will be led by the National Economic Council, the National Security Council, and the White House Deputy Chief of Staff’s office.
Executives lending their industry expertise to the Task Force include AWS CEO Matt Garman, Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, and Ruth Porat, Alphabet's president and chief investment officer.
They’ll work with government officials including secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo, energy secretary Jennifer Granholm, and Benjamin Della Rocca, the director for technology and national security to ensure data centre projects “reflect the importance… to American national security and economic interests.”
In addition to the Task Force, the White House announced it would scale up technical assistance to Federal, state, and local authorities, helping them to better handle data centre-related permitting.
The Department of Energy (DOE) will create a dedicated AI data centre engagement team to offer site operators resources including loans, grants, tax credits, and technical assistance.
The Department of Energy (DOE) will also provide guidance to data centre developers on repurposing closed coal sites. This would allow data centre operators to redevelop nearby sites to improve their electricity infrastructure.
“These actions will enable data centres catalysing the industries of the future to be built here in the US by American workers,” a White House readout stated.
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