Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure
The order directs the Departments of Defense and Energy to identify federal land sites and run competitive solicitations so private companies can lease and build frontier AI data centers on those sites, with permits targeted for completion by end of 2025 and full operations by end of 2027.
It attaches mandatory conditions to any leases — including clean energy matching, national security oversight, labor standards, and government access to AI models at favorable rates — making the federal government a direct participant in shaping the next generation of American AI infrastructure.
What this order does
What it orders
The order directs the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy each to identify at least three federal land sites suitable for leasing to private companies to construct frontier AI data centers, launch competitive public solicitations by March 31, 2025, and announce winning proposals by June 30, 2025. Winners must sign security agreements with NIST's AI Safety Institute, procure new clean electricity matched hourly to data center demand, pay prevailing wages, bear all infrastructure costs, and commit to providing the federal government access to AI models developed on federal sites at market rates or better. The order also directs the Department of the Interior to designate at least five Priority Geothermal Zones and identify Bureau of Land Management sites for clean energy facilities supporting AI infrastructure.
The order further directs agencies to expedite environmental and air-quality permitting, accelerate grid interconnection reporting and upgrades, study electricity price impacts on consumers, develop model contracts for distributed energy resources, assess supply chain risks, and engage allies on building trusted AI infrastructure abroad. It does not itself approve any specific data center project, waive any environmental law, or change any regulation; all operative changes depend on the competitive solicitation outcomes and subsequent agency decisions and rulemaking.
Who it affects
Private technology companies and energy firms competing to lease federal land for AI data centers; small and medium AI developers who receive a set-aside opportunity in solicitations; construction workers subject to labor standards; electricity ratepayers in regions hosting AI infrastructure; communities near federal sites; and federal agencies directed to act.
Why it matters
Companies that win federal site leases gain streamlined permitting and grid access but must fund all infrastructure costs and share AI model access with the government. Electricity ratepayers near AI data center hubs gain protections against cost increases. Workers on these projects are subject to prevailing-wage and apprenticeship requirements.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The order operates in stages: agencies identify sites (February–March 2025), competitive solicitations open and close (March–April 2025), winners are announced and leasing frameworks finalized (by June 2025), permitting is targeted for completion by end of 2025, construction begins by January 2026, and full operations are targeted by December 2027. Lease terms are the primary enforcement mechanism — they require clean energy matching, security standards, cost responsibility, and government AI-model access. Winners must also sign memoranda of understanding with NIST's AI Safety Institute for ongoing model evaluations. The Department of Defense must issue regulations on computing-hardware safeguards within one year.
Actions and deadlines
- Identify at least 3 federal sites each suitable for frontier AI data center leases
- Identify BLM sites suitable for clean energy facilities supporting frontier AI infrastructure
- Designate at least 5 Priority Geothermal Zones on lands managed by the Department of the Interior
- Launch competitive public solicitations for private-sector leases to build frontier AI data centers on federal sites
- Publicize Interior Department BLM sites cleared for clean energy development supporting AI infrastructure
- Establish requirements for transmission providers to report surplus interconnection service and available clean power capacity
- Release draft reporting requirements for AI data centers covering greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and excess heat
- Assess existing NEPA categorical exclusions and identify opportunities for new ones supporting AI infrastructure
- Announce winning proposals from competitive AI data center site solicitations
- Develop leasing frameworks for winning applicants to build and operate frontier AI infrastructure on federal sites
- Engage transmission providers on grid upgrades needed to interconnect AI infrastructure on federal sites by end of 2027
- Issue request for information from private sector on load interconnection processes
- Develop a plan for engaging allies and partners on building trusted AI infrastructure worldwide
- Consult domestic suppliers of critical grid equipment on expected AI infrastructure needs
- Identify prioritized list of underutilized grid interconnection points relevant to AI infrastructure on federal sites
- Submit report to the President on AI data center effects on electricity prices for consumers and businesses
- Establish geothermal direct-use leasing assistance program on BLM lands
- Submit supply chain risk report on the U.S. data center industry to the President
- Develop model contracts for using distributed energy resources to support AI infrastructure grid capacity
- Publish joint list of ten high-priority sites for nuclear power deployment to serve AI data center electricity demand
- Issue regulations prescribing heightened safeguards for computing hardware on Department of Defense AI sites
- Publish nuclear power deployment plans for facilitating capacity at high-priority sites
- Submit report to National Security Advisor on international actions taken to advance trusted AI infrastructure