October 19, 2025
NOTUS Perspectives: AI Requires Massive Allocations of Energy. Will Other Sectors Suffer?
This article was originally published on NOTUS.
AI will force hard choices about how energy is allocated in America. Energy demand for developing advanced AI models is skyrocketing. One leading AI company expects to need 5 gigawatts of firm, reliable power (roughly equivalent to the output of five nuclear reactors) to train a single advanced model in 2028, with up to 25 gigawatts required nationwide for advanced AI training.
On the current trajectory, the government may need to prioritize energy for AI over other uses to ensure the United States remains the global leader in advanced AI.
While the Trump administration has taken aggressive steps to speed development — streamlining permitting and allowing use of federal lands — those measures alone will not meet the scale of energy demand. On the current trajectory, the government may need to prioritize energy for AI over other uses to ensure the United States remains the global leader in advanced AI. Tools like the Defense Production Act’s priorities and allocations authorities, or the Department of Energy’s power to override state transmission decisions, make such prioritization possible.
Read the full article on NOTUS.
More from CNAS
-
Reports
Technology & National Security
Red LinesChinese advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems pose a serious and growing threat to U.S. national security. At least seven Chinese developers now produce systems with f...
By Daniel Remler
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security
Britain Should Be Europe’s Silicon Valley. One Thing Is Stopping It.At the heart of the country’s economic struggles is a central weakness that must be fixed: risk aversion. This is not a cultural problem, as is often implied, but institutiona...
By Keegan McBride
-
Podcast
Technology & National Security
AI on the Battlefield: Project Maven and the Future of War with Jack ShanahanProject Maven stands as one of the earliest and most consequential efforts to bring AI into military operations. This week, Elisa sits down with Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, former...
By Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan
-
Reports
Technology & National Security
Adversarial DistillationThe Chinese Communist Party (CCP) views artificial intelligence (AI) as central to strategic competition with the United States and is pursuing every means to strengthen its A...
By Daniel Remler & Ben Hayum
