AI Policy Newsletter - January 17, 2025

On January 14, President Biden signed an executive order on “Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure.” The order directs federal agencies to accelerate large-scale AI infrastructure development at government sites and make federal sites available for AI data centers and new clean power facilities. The move comes amid rising demand for clean energy to power AI data centers. A report released by the Department of Energy last month estimated that the electricity needed for data centers in the U.S. tripled over the past decade and is projected to double or triple again by 2028, when it could consume up to 12% of the nation’s electricity. At this point it remains unclear if the incoming Trump administration will seek to overturn or change parts of the order.

On January 13, the Biden Administration released its Interim Final Rule restricting the exporting of advanced computer chips used to develop artificial intelligence to most foreign countries, except eighteen of the United States’ closest allies. The framework is an attempt to provide greater clarity to industry and foreign governments, while protecting America’s national security interest by ensuring the most advanced AI models are developed within the borders of the U.S. and its closest allies. Tech companies and AI chip manufacturers, including Nvidia, have protested the new rules, saying they threaten their sales and the future prospects of the American tech industry. The guidelines come days before President Biden leaves office, teeing up Trump’s administration to either pursue or abandon the measure.

On December 22, President-elect Trump announced that Sriram Krishnan will serve as Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Krishnan is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist who most recently was a partner at Andreessen Horowitz and previously led product teams at Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo!, Facebook, and Snap. In an op-ed for the New York Times in 2023, Krishnan expressed optimism for technological innovation and advocated for an open internet not dominated by a few large companies.

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