Trump's Push to Build Data Centers for the US Military
3 hours ago
- President Trump's executive order directed the Department of Defense to lease military land for private data centers, which are growing unpopular due to electricity use and pollution.
- In March, private developers Carlyle Group and CyrusOne were chosen to build hyperscale data centers on federal land in Texas and Utah, with the Texas facility potentially requiring more power than all of El Paso.
- The DOD requested $30 billion for data centers integrating untested hardware/software for military decisions, framing it as critical to national security.
- The federal government uses national security to justify billions to tech companies like Elon Musk's xAI, which received at least $200 million and was exempt from permitting for Grok's operation.
- Data centers on federal land may bypass environmental backlash due to sovereign immunity exempting military bases from pollution regulations, creating 'sacrifice zones' like Camp Lejeune.
- Congress has mixed reactions: Rep. Tlaib's bill to ban AI data centers on federal lands was rejected as an amendment but reintroduced; Rep. Mills' provision banning Chinese components in military base data centers was included but opposed by the Army.
- Critics argue public lands should not become sacrifice zones for AI arms race, forcing communities to bear energy and pollution costs for war-making systems.