Our Morgan Lewis colleagues recently wrote on the US administration’s new artificial intelligence action plan, specifically as the plan seeks to foster innovation and expedite the development of AI data centers and the necessary energy infrastructure required for such expansion.
The plan proposes several key reforms for streamlining environmental reviews and permitting processes, which are crucial for the rapid buildout of AI data centers. The plan suggests creating a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act for data center–related actions, expanding the use of the FAST-41 process as established by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015, and expediting environmental permitting under major environmental laws. It also recommends making federal lands available for data center construction and utilizing AI to enhance environmental permitting processes.
To ensure sufficient electrical power and improve grid reliability, the action plan emphasizes stabilizing the grid, enhancing transmission efficiency, and reforming power markets to align with grid stability goals. The plan also highlights the need to boost US semiconductor manufacturing to supply advanced chips for data centers, advocating for the continued implementation of the CHIPS Act and regulatory streamlining.
Furthermore, the plan calls for the construction of high-security data centers for military and intelligence purposes, with new technical standards to be developed in collaboration with keystone governmental agencies such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the US Department of Defense, and other applicable intelligence agencies. These initiatives are set to reshape the data center landscape, aligning it with the nation’s AI ambitions.
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