OpenAI has drafted a policy paper with suggestions on how to foster the U.S. artificial intelligence sector, CNBC reported today.

Chris Lehane, the company’s vice president of global affairs, is expected to present the document today in Washington, D.C.

OpenAI’s paper reportedly contains five main policy suggestions. According to FedScoop, the first proposal calls on state governments and federal agencies to create AI-focused economic zones. The goal, OpenAI states in the document, would be to speed up the permitting work and other tasks involved in building AI infrastructure.

The company’s infrastructure proposals focus on not only data centers but also the energy generation facilities needed to power them. According to OpenAI, officials should prioritize the construction of wind and solar farms, as well as clear unutilized nuclear reactors for use. The policy paper suggests that the U.S. Navy’s nuclear power expertise could be conducive to the initiative. 

“States that provide subsidies or other support for companies launching infrastructure projects could require that a share of the new compute be made available to their public universities to create AI research labs and developer hubs aligned with their key commercial sectors,” the policy paper states. 

Speaking to CNBC, OpenAI’s Lehane provided an example of how such university collaborations could be implemented. He said that states with large agricultural sectors could make a portion of local AI data centers’ computing capacity available to their university systems. Researchers at those institutions, in turn, could use the computing capacity and data from local farms to train large language models optimized for agricultural use cases.

Another section of OpenAI’s policy paper calls for a piece of legislation dubbed the National Transmission Highway Act. Its purpose, the document states, would be to streamline the planning, permitting and payment procedures involved in building transmission infrastructure. This is a term for the equipment used to transmit energy resources and network traffic.

Private investors could help finance energy infrastructure projects, OpenAI argues in the document. The company says the government can encourage investor participation by committing to purchase some of the energy that will be generated.

OpenAI’s policy paper also covers a number of other topics. According to the company, the U.S. and allies should create an AI-focused economic bloc through a North American Compact for Artificial Intelligence. OpenAI says the goal of this bloc would be to compete with China. Additionally, the ChatGPT developer recommends that the government help train people for AI-related jobs in fields such as data center management.

The policy paper goes on to list several of the benefits that the company expects AI investments to deliver. OpenAI says that initiatives of the kind it’s recommending could create tens of thousands of jobs, boost GDP growth and modernize the electrical grid. Furthermore, it believes that the AI sector could help drive the construction of new chip fabs. 

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