OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research company, has suggested to the US government to build a giant data center, saying that this will help the US maintain its leading position in the field of artificial intelligence and compete with China.

OpenAI suggested to the Biden administration that the US should build a giant data center capable of using electricity equivalent to that of an entire city to promote the development of more advanced artificial intelligence models and compete with China in the field of artificial intelligence.

After a recent White House meeting, OpenAI shared a document with government officials outlining the economic and national security benefits of building a 5-gigawatt data center in multiple states across the US. Five gigawatts of electricity is roughly equivalent to the output of five nuclear reactors, or enough to power nearly 3 million households.

OpenAI stated that investment in these facilities will create tens of thousands of new jobs, boost GDP, and ensure that the US remains ahead in AI development.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has been working this year to form a global investor consortium to fund the expensive physical infrastructure needed to support rapidly advancing AI, and to secure US government support for the project.

Currently, US power projects face delays due to long waits for grid access, permitting delays, supply chain issues, and labor shortages. However, energy executives say even powering a 5-gigawatt data center would be a challenge.

Joe Dominguez, CEO of Constellation Energy Corp., said he had heard that Altman was discussing the construction of five to seven 5-gigawatt data centers. OpenAI's goal is to focus on one data center first, but has plans to expand from there.

Dominguez said, "We're not just talking about something that's never been done before, but as an engineer, I don't think it's feasible." "It's definitely not possible to address national security and scheduling issues."

The US currently has 96 gigawatts of nuclear power installed capacity. Last week, Microsoft, OpenAI's largest investor, reached an agreement with Constellation to restart the shuttered Three Mile Island facility and provide Microsoft with nuclear energy exclusively for 20 years.

In June, John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra Energy Inc., said some tech companies had approached them seeking locations capable of supporting 5 gigawatts of demand. "Just think about it, that's the size of the power supply for the city of Miami," he said.

Ketchum said that much electricity would require a mix of new wind and solar farms, battery storage, and grid access. He added that finding a location capable of accommodating 5 gigawatts would take some work, but there are places in the US that can accommodate 1 gigawatt.