After discussions with a group of U.S. technology industry executives, the U.S. government announced the establishment of an AI (artificial intelligence) data center infrastructure working group. On September 12, local time, the White House announced that it would establish an AI data center infrastructure working group to coordinate the policies of various government departments. The working group will be led by the National Economic Council, the National Security Council, and the Office of the White House Deputy Chief of Staff. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Energy will create an AI data center engagement team to use various projects to support the development of AI data centers.
On the 12th, a group of U.S. technology industry executives, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, came to the White House and met with senior officials of the Biden administration and other industry leaders to discuss how to meet the growing power infrastructure needs of AI projects, as well as clean energy, government licensing and labor needs. Participants also included Google President Ruth Porat, Microsoft President Brad Smith, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Amazon Cloud Services CEO Matt Garman.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm also attended the meeting. After the meeting, White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson said: "President Biden and Vice President Harris are committed to strengthening U.S. leadership in AI by building data centers in the United States while ensuring that the technology can be developed responsibly."
Huang Renxun said in an interview with foreign media: "We are at the beginning of a new industrial revolution. This industry will create intelligence, and this requires energy... So we need to ensure that everyone understands the future needs, the opportunities and challenges, and implements them in the most effective and scalable way."
Huang Jenxun added that given the very rapid growth of the AI industry, government-enterprise (public-private) cooperation is likely to be needed in this area. He also revealed that Nvidia is launching full mass production of its latest AI chip Blackwell.
A spokesperson for OpenAI said that the company believes that building additional AI infrastructure in the United States will have an important impact on the country's industrial policy and economic future: "We thank the White House for convening this meeting, which demonstrates the importance of infrastructure construction in creating jobs, ensuring the widespread benefits of AI and ensuring that the United States continues to be at the forefront of AI innovation."
OpenAI has shared with Biden administration officials its analysis of the economic impact of AI, including the estimated impact on employment and GDP of building large data centers in U.S. states such as Wisconsin, California, Texas and Pennsylvania, according to people familiar with the matter.
Porat said that strong energy infrastructure can help the United States consolidate its leading position in the field of AI. "Today's meeting at the White House is an important opportunity to advance efforts to modernize and expand the U.S. energy grid," she wrote in a statement.
As the AI craze develops, regulatory issues in the AI industry have received increasing attention. On October 30, 2023, U.S. President Biden signed the United States’ first AI regulatory executive order at the White House in Washington, setting new standards for AI safety. In August this year, OpenAI and Anthropic reached a historic agreement with the AI Safety Institute (AISafety Institute), allowing the U.S. government to conduct safety testing of new important AI models before the companies release them.
Recently, there is news that OpenAI is in a round of financing negotiations and plans to raise US$6.5 billion from investors at a company valuation of US$150 billion. This round of financing will be led by Thrive Capital, and Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor and partner, will also participate. On the evening of the 12th, OpenAI officially released a new generation of large reasoning model called "o1", which can answer more complex questions faster than humans.
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