With less than a week left in office, President Joe Biden is making his final moves in the AI industry. He issued an executive order on Tuesday allowing private sector AI companies to lease federal sites owned by the Department of Defense and Department of Energy to build AI data centers. Companies building data centers on these sites must bring online enough clean energy resources to match the electricity needed to power them.

This isn’t a grant program – companies will need to pay the full cost to build, operate, and maintain these data centers. The goal of this order is to strengthen the U.S.’ global leadership in AI and prevent domestic companies from relying on other countries for AI tools and infrastructure. Proper resources will be given to these departments to ensure quick and efficient inspection and approval of bids for federal sites.

The emphasis on renewable energy in this executive order is important. Data centers currently consume 4% of all U.S. power, and that number is expected to grow to 9% by the end of the decade. Data center power demand is projected to double in the next five years. This order follows new rules on AI chip exports announced by the Biden administration, imposing further restrictions on certain countries and implementing a 50,000 chip quota for most of the world.

It’s worth noting that these orders come just before Donald Trump’s expected return to the presidency, where he is likely to reverse many of the Biden administration’s policies.