The U.S. government operates a fleet of thousands of data centers, many of which are currently operational and have been for years. The Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI), established in 2016, has led to the closure and consolidation of thousands of inefficient data centers across various agencies since its inception.
The recent efforts you may be hearing about involve new initiatives to develop next-generation data centers specifically for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing on federal lands, often through partnerships with private industry.
Current
AI Data Center Development
In 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) identified 16 potential sites at national laboratories and other federal facilities for the development of new, high-density AI data centers to accelerate R&D.
Site Selection: The DOE has selected four initial sites for development, including the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee.
Status: These are in various stages of planning, with the DOE and U.S. Air Force accepting proposals for projects at certain sites. Construction on these specific new AI-focused facilities has likely not been completed yet, as the initiative was only launched in 2025, and many projects face local permitting and approval processes.
Goal: The
primary goal is to leverage existing federal land and infrastructure for rapid
development of AI and energy infrastructure in collaboration with private
industry to maintain American leadership in AI.
In summary, the government has many existing operational data centers, and several new, specialized AI data centers are in the planning and development phase.
As of January 2026, the U.S. government maintains thousands of operational data centers, though it has been actively consolidating them for over a decade. Simultaneously, a new wave of "supersized" AI-focused data centers on federal land is currently in the planning and proposal stages, with none of the newly designated sites fully operational yet.
Current Operational Status
Existing Infrastructure: Most agencies have already consolidated their legacy fleets into larger, more efficient centers or shifted to cloud providers like AWS and Microsoft Azure Government under the Federal Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI).
New
Federal AI Sites: In 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE)
identified 16 federal sites (such as
Idaho National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory) for rapid data center development. While proposals are being accepted and some sites are cleared, these facilities are not yet operational.
Status of the 16 New Federal Sites (2025-2026 Initiatives)
Site Category Status as of January 2026
Active Proposals: The DOE and US Air Force are currently accepting and reviewing private sector porposals for development
Site Preparation: Sires like the Kansas City National Security Campus have cleared land (approx. 35 of 50 proposed acres but have not completed construction.
Public Land Delays: The Department of the Interior (DOI) has not yet finalized specific sites on its vast public land holdings, leading to some implementation delays.
Key Policy Drivers
Executive Order (July 2025): Directs the buildout of data centers on federally owned land, including Brownfield and Superfund sites, to bypass traditional local zoning hurdles.
America’s AI Action Plan: A White House initiative to streamline permitting and energy infrastructure to support a "data center gusher".
Commercial Partnerships: Companies like Amazon have committed roughly $50 billion to build purpose-built government AI and cloud infrastructure to meet this new demand.
These government fact sheets detail the status of federal data center sites designated for AI development and existing operational data center infrastructure:
https://www.google.com/search?q=are+any+us+government+data+centers+operational+yet
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