back to article Biden opens federal land to power-hungry AI datacenters

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order that aims to ensure American AI leadership doesn't lag because of shoddy energy infrastructure. The order directs the Department of Defense and Department of Energy to identify and lease federal land to the private sector for the purposes of developing gigawatt-scale …

  1. Apocalypso - a cheery end to the world

    Doomed to fail

    Biden's order is doomed to fail. How can it possibly succeed when Keir Starmer [1] has just announced: “Britain will be one of the great AI superpowers. Now, that’s not boosterism or wishful thinking. This can be done, and it will be done.”

    Harold Wilson's [2] "white heat of technology" has only just recently cooled down to red hot so you Yanks have no chance. I'd give up now.

    [1] Current UK Prime Minister

    [2] A former UK Prime Minister

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: Doomed to fail

      The UK's big advantage is that a far-sight premier Thatcher made sure to preserve Britain's coal stocks until they could be used to power future AI datacenters.

      Finally with a Labour PM, her legacy will be fulfilled and the pits will re-open to produce massive quantities of vegan, organic, carbon-neutral power.

  2. Paul Hovnanian Silver badge

    Read your contracts. Carefully.

    We went through a power supply building boom some decades ago. Known as WPPSS (Washington Public Power Supply System). Better known as "Whoops", it was (in)famous for forecasting power demand that never materialized. And committing to build nuclear plants that were never needed. Huge bond defaults followed, and a lot of public utility customers were on the hook to pay for stuff they never used.

    Make damned sure that the AI datacenter folks put up the cash in some structure that they can't walk away with when LLMs turn out to be the next tulips.

    1. Marty McFly Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: Read your contracts. Carefully.

      The WPPSS story is so much more complex than that. I submit demand did not materialize at that time due to the energy conservation movement. A half century later and increased demand has consumed the surplus resulting from that conservation. Essentially they were half a century ahead of their time.

      Side story... I used to work at an office building built in the late 1960's when power in the Pacific Northwest would be "too cheap to meter". There was a giant chiller outside the building that cooled the air to 58 degrees. If the occupant of an office (pre-dates cubicle design) wanted warmer air, a 220v heater over their office re-warmed it. Single pane glass everywhere. The building was abandoned in 1987, and was reclaimed by my employer a decade later...who realized too late they could not afford the power bill. They were forced to sell the company two years later, never having made another dime.

  3. codejunky Silver badge

    Hmm

    "there's no guarantee the order won't be scrapped or substantially altered — for example dropping clean energy mandates."

    That would solve the energy problem then wouldnt it. Faster, cheaper, existing technology and reliable.

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: Hmm

      Or use the federal land for Ai golf courses or Ai mining, once it's been sold off to your friends for cheap.

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