U.S. President Donald Trump makes a virtual address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025.
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President Donald Trump said Thursday he will expedite the construction of power plants for artificial intelligence through an emergency declaration, as the U.S. races against China for dominance in the space.
“We’re going to build electric generating facilities. I’m going to get the approval under emergency declaration. I can get the approvals done myself without having to go through years of waiting,” Trump said in a virtual address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The plants can use whatever fuel they want, the president said, making clear that his administration won’t hold the AI industry to any climate targets. Trump suggested the plants use coal for emergency backup power.
“There are some companies in the US that have coal sitting right by the plant so that if there’s an emergency, they can go to that,” the president said.
Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office, directing federal agencies to use whatever emergency authorities they have at their disposal to expedite energy infrastructure projects.
One day later, Trump unveiled a joint venture with OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank to invest billions of dollars in AI infrastructure through a project called Stargate.
Power demand from artificial intelligence data centers is forecast to surge in the coming years. The tech companies building the centers that support AI have primarily focused on procuring renewable energy, though they have shown a growing interest in nuclear power to meet their growing energy needs.
While the tech sector has focused on carbon-free power to meet their climate goals, analysts believe natural gas will play a pivotal role in powering AI because it’s in plentiful supply, is more reliable than renewables and can be deployed much faster than nuclear.
Trump said he wants power plants to connect directly to data centers rather than supplying electricity through the grid.
“You don’t have to hook into the grid, which is old and could be taken out,” Trump said. This setup, called co-location, has faced opposition from some utilities, which are worried about losing fees and have warned taking power off the grid could lead to supply shortages.
