Hanford Nuclear Reservation with Northwest Energy's nuclear reactor letting off steam in the background. (Photo by Tobin, via Flickr, Creative Commons)

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday to provide federal support to address massive energy needs for fast-growing advanced artificial intelligence data centers, the White House said.

President Joe Biden has signed an ambitious executive order on artificial intelligence that seeks to ensure the infrastructure needed for advanced AI operations like data centers can be built quickly and at scale in the United States.

The executive order calls on the federal departments of Defense and Energy to each identify at least three locations for private-sector data centers. It seeks to balance construction, consumer cost and environmental impact.

Under the new rules, the departments of Defense and Energy will each identify at least three sites where the private sector can build AI data centers.

President Biden will sign an executive order Tuesday aimed at reducing barriers to construct new data centers and the accompanying energy infrastructure needed to power the development of artificial intelligence (AI).

The rapid growth and huge electricity needs spawned by the artificial intelligence revolution spurs a directive to lease federal sites owned by Defense and Energy departments for power supply centers.