President Biden's executive order addresses the race to build domestic data centers and clean energy plants in order to retain America's AI leadership.

The government already leases federal lands for energy production, including fossil fuel exploration and renewable energy projects. Under the executive order, by February 28th, the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Energy are supposed to find at least three sites each to host new AI data centers on land that their departments manage.

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.

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.