ARLINGTON, VA – To garner support for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers on federal land, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) should “state its value propositions” early on, Senior Director at Microsoft Federal Bryan Lopez said here Wednesday.
Lopez told Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit that this goes a long way in helping hyperscalers consider these public-private partnerships.
The Department of Energy and NNSA, the department’s semiautonomous branch that oversees the weapons stockpile, have issued several solicitations for building AI data centers at government complexes.
A request for proposals for data centers at the Savannah River Site are currently being assessed.
Public-private partnerships should be willing to invest in the economic development for the local communities, Lopez said.
Lopez said investing in the communities hosting the data centers could foster a local workforce. Along with that, the partnership should co-invest in nuclear power to bring sustainable solutions to the communities, Lopez added.
James Wolff, NNSA associate administrator for information management and chief information officer, said the semiautonomous agency is prioritizing the use of AI for national security purposes and continuing to fine tune it.
In November, President Donald Trump issued an executive order, the Genesis Mission, in which he called for a national effort to use AI to accelerate “the speed of scientific discovery” to advance national security.
Soon after, NNSA issued a request for information seeking interest from entities that look to execute on the agency’s mission and utilize AI.