The U.S. Air Force is offering to lease about 3,000 acres at five bases to private companies to build artificial intelligence data centers, Stars & Stripes reported.
Over two-thirds of the land — more than 2,000 acres — is at Edwards Air Force Base in the Southern California desert north of Los Angeles.
“AI is transforming the modern world, and these data centers are crucial for America to remain at the forefront of innovation,” Robert Moriarty, the Air Force’s deputy assistant secretary of installations, said in an unpublished news release provided to Defense One.
The Request for Lease Proposal was released this month and seeks to use underutilized base land for AI centers, according to Stars & Stripes.
The move follows a July executive order from President Donald Trump urging the use of public lands to accelerate the development of AI centers.
Projects must be valued at least $500 million and require 100 megawatts of power. Proposals must also include evidence that a company has already completed major AI center projects.
The new proposals don’t have to be connected to defense work.
In addition to Edwards, fewer than 300 acres of land are available at each of the following bases: Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona, Arnold AFB in Tennessee, Robins AFB in Georgia, and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.
The Edwards acreage spans seven sites on the 300,000-acre base, the Air Force’s premier flight testing and development facility and home to prototypes of the B-21 Raider bomber and T-7 Red Hawk jet trainer, Stars & Stripes reported.
Proposals are due by Nov. 14, and bids must reflect “fair market value” for the leases, which the Air Force said would likely run for 50 years. The Air Force plans to announce acceptance of proposals after Jan. 1.
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