The Pentagon began implementing a Biden administration executive order directing the Department of Defense to lease federal land for private companies to build gigawatt-scale artificial intelligence data centers, according to government announcements in 2025.
Executive Order and Site Selection
President Biden issued an executive order on January 14, 2025, directing the Pentagon and Department of Energy to select and lease federal sites for private-sector entities to build and operate large-scale AI data centers. The order cited national security imperatives and the need to maintain U.S. leadership in AI development.
“This renewed partnership between the government and industry will ensure that the United States will continue to lead in artificial intelligence,” Biden stated in the order.
The Department of Energy announced on July 24, 2025, the selection of four sites for AI data center development: Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation, and two additional locations. The sites were selected based on accessibility to high-capacity transmission infrastructure and minimized adverse effects on communities and the environment, according to the announcement.
Air Force Implementation
The Air Force announced in October 2025 plans to lease unused land on military bases for private AI data centers, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine. The initiative aims to leverage underutilized property on Air Force installations while supporting AI infrastructure development.
The program raised concerns among some defense officials about security risks and land-use priorities on military installations, according to Defense One reporting in October 2025.
Contractor Requirements
Selected contractors must meet several requirements under the executive order, including purchasing an appropriate share of domestically manufactured semiconductors and procuring new clean energy generation resources that match their electricity and capacity needs. Contractors are required to pay the full cost of building, operating, and maintaining the AI infrastructure.
The Defense Department and Energy Department will issue competitive solicitations for proposals to lease the selected sites, according to the executive order.
Commercial AI Contracts
Separately, the Pentagon announced on July 15, 2025, that it awarded contracts worth up to $200 million each to Google, xAI, Anthropic, and OpenAI to help the military expand its use of advanced AI capabilities. The contracts support development of agentic AI workflows for national security missions.
“Leveraging commercially available solutions into an integrated capabilities approach will accelerate the use of advanced AI as part of our Joint mission essential tasks in our warfighting domain as well as intelligence, business, and enterprise information systems,” said Chief Digital and AI Officer Doug Matty in a statement.
Strategic Context
The executive order stated that AI’s electricity and computational needs are vast and set to surge in coming years. Building AI infrastructure in the United States requires enormous private-sector investments, especially for advanced computing clusters needed to train AI models and the energy infrastructure needed to power them.
“Recent advancements in AI demonstrate its rapidly growing relevance to national security, including with respect to logistics, military capabilities, intelligence analysis, and cybersecurity,” the executive order stated. “Building AI in the United States will help prevent adversaries from gaining access to, and using, powerful future systems to the detriment of our military and national security.”
