Ready to go all out on AI energy infrastructure? American AI giants gather at the White House to discuss layout

CNBC cited sources as saying that OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Google, as well as executives from multiple American energy and utility companies, held a meeting at the White House on Thursday to discuss the future of the American artificial intelligence energy infrastructure.

Attendees included OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Google President Ruth Porat, with a focus on how to integrate the public and private sectors to discuss artificial intelligence energy usage, data center capacity, semiconductor manufacturing, and grid capacity.

A spokesperson from OpenAI stated that the company believes that building more infrastructure in the United States is crucial for industrial policy and economic future.

"We appreciate the White House for convening this meeting, which highlights the importance of artificial intelligence in job creation, while also helping to ensure that the advantages of artificial intelligence are widely applied and that the United States continues to lead in artificial intelligence innovation."

Sources revealed to CNBC that OpenAI shared with Biden administration officials an analysis of the economic impact of AI, including estimates of the impact on employment and GDP of establishing large data centers in various states in the United States (such as Wisconsin, California, Texas, and Pennsylvania).

White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson stated:

"President Biden and Vice President Harris are committed to promoting America's leadership in the field of artificial intelligence by ensuring the construction of data centers in the United States, while also ensuring that this technology develops responsibly."

According to sources, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm also attended Thursday's meeting.

Other attendees included National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, Vice President's Domestic Policy Advisor Kristine Lucius, President's Senior Advisor on International Climate Policy John Podesta. White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed also attended the meeting.

Recently, the industry has been increasingly focused on artificial intelligence safety and ethical issues. Earlier in August, it was announced that OpenAI and Anthropic will allow the U.S. AI Safety Institute to test their new models before release.

The institute is affiliated with the National Institute of Standards and Technology under the U.S. Department of Commerce, which stated that it will "obtain relevant models before and after each company releases a new model."

The institute was established after the Biden administration issued the first executive order on artificial intelligence by the U.S. government in October 2023, which called for new security assessments of artificial intelligence, the development of fair and civil rights guidelines, and research on the impact of artificial intelligence on the labor marketAccording to reports, OpenAI is in talks for a new round of financing that will value the company at over $150 billion. Anthropic, founded by former senior executives and employees of OpenAI, is currently valued at $18.4 billion. Anthropic's main investors include Amazon, while OpenAI is strongly supported by Microsoft