Analysts Warn Data Centers Expose Grid to New Risks as White House Eyes AI Growth
Cybersecurity analysts and former federal officials warn aggressive plans by the White House to grow AI data center capacity could deepen America’s exposure to cyberattacks – unless new executive orders impose tougher safeguards.
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The Trump administration is reportedly preparing executive actions to boost domestic energy production and accelerate the growth of AI data centers. Its plan is to open federal land to facilities, ease grid connections for power projects, ease permitting and prioritize hooking up nearly completed energy sites to the grid, according to Reuters.
The reported plans so far lack clear provisions to shore up security or protect overstretched infrastructure, as experts warn the data center industry faces the intertwined challenges of safeguarding itself against escalating cyberthreats and managing the intense demands it places on already fragile grids. The White House may choose to see past those problems in a rush to outpace rivals.
Securing Data Centers Takes Time, Money and Regulations
Analysts told Information Security Media Group the executive order should include new security measures for expanding data center grid capacity. Some pointed to the Rand Corporation’s level four graduated security framework, which calls for strict insider threat programs, multiple isolation layers and confidential computing when handling sensitive AI assets. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency should also invest in next-generation hardware security, from hardened GPUs resistant to side-channel attacks to robust supply chain auditing tools, said Bill Anderson-Samways, researcher at the Institute for AI Policy and Strategy. “The window for getting ahead of these threats is closing rapidly,” he said.
Anderson-Samways said an executive order directing the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation to develop comprehensive data center security standards “would create the foundation we desperately need to ensure America’s leadership in AI.” The recommendations amid worries that China has embedded itself into U.S. critical infrastructure ahead of a possible future conflict over Taiwan, seeking to potentially disrupt domestic energy supplies and other vital industries.
“We need immediate action to secure America’s AI infrastructure,” he said.
The vast and growing attack surface of the electric grid can only shrink through more robust investments, tougher regulatory guidance and executive orders that demand strict security standards, said Stu McClure, CEO of AI security platform Qwiet.ai.
“At the data center level, [China] will most certainly attempt cyberattacks to disrupt operations or steal sensitive information,” McClure predicted. “To maintain our edge, we need to prioritize cybersecurity, invest in domestic manufacturing capabilities and foster international collaborations with trusted partners.”
AI Data Centers Are Already Straining the Grid and Resources
Beyond cyber risks, the rapid buildout of AI compute clusters is putting unprecedented stress on an aging grid and scarce water supplies. A report from the Department of Energy published Wednesday warns the power grid will be unable to meet projected demands from AI, data centers and other large loads in the coming years without “decisive intervention.”
“A failure to power the data centers needed to win the AI arms race or to build the grid infrastructure that ensures our energy independence could result in adversary nations shaping digital norms and controlling digital infrastructure, thereby jeopardizing U.S. economic and national security,” the report states.
Gokcen Tapkan, director of data research at Black Kite, noted how AI data centers require extreme power densities, resulting in clusters of centers such an area of Northern Virginia known as “Data Center Alley,” Oregon and west Texas, magnifying vulnerabilities.
“The U.S. power grid was not designed for the power density required by exascale AI clusters,” Tapkan said. That concentrated load makes local substations or fiber interconnects prime targets for attackers, she said. A disruption to only a few sites could paralyze AI operations nationwide.
Communities across the country, including Phoenix and Salt Lake City already grapple with heavy competition for water as data centers expand. The strain on infrastructure, analysts say, risks cascading outages that could spread far beyond AI facilities themselves.
The White House Is Prioritizing Speed – But What About Security?
Multiple analysts and former federal cybersecurity officials worry the administration may overlook security measures in the upcoming executive orders. One of the administration’s moves in office was to revoke a Biden administration executive order aimed at reducing risks from powerful AI models to consumers and national security.
President Donald Trump also criticized his predecessor’s efforts to secure AI on the campaign trail, calling the Democratic administration a “dangerous” barrier to innovation while pledging to “support AI development rooted in free speech and human flourishing” (see: President Trump Scraps Biden’s AI Safety Executive Order).
The White House did not respond to requests for comment and has not replaced Biden’s AI order with its own security mandates.
A June executive order placed new emphasis on AI software flaws within interagency coordination for vulnerability management, but did not include any security measures surrounding data centers or grid capacity. The White House is set to receive new AI guidelines with input from the National Security Council as part of an “AI Action Plan” slated for release on July 23, but it is unclear if it will tackle data center and power grid vulnerabilities.
One former White House cybersecurity official called the grid “already one of our most vulnerable, most critical and most overlooked assets,” warning that connecting vast new AI loads could make it an even easier target.
“There are just too many grid vulnerabilities – aging systems, foreign and domestic threats, the sheer load itself is a problem,” the former official later said. “You can’t ignore security at the ground floor of any new policy impacting grid capacity.”
