On July 23, 2025, the White House unveiled Winning the Race: America's AI Action Plan. The Plan outlines a sweeping federal policy for boosting domestic AI development based on three pillars: Accelerate AI Innovation, Build American AI Infrastructure, and Lead in International AI Diplomacy and Security.

According to the Wall Street Journal, technology companies have already announced over $1.5 trillion in planned investments in data centers and manufacturing facilities. As the Plan stimulates further investment over the next decade, that figure is projected to rise significantly.

For the construction industry, the “Build American AI Infrastructure” pillar of the Plan represents a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity: accelerating the development of so-called AI infrastructure — data centers, semiconductor fabrication facilities, and the energy systems that power them.

The Plan's Build American AI Infrastructure Pillar

The Plan directs federal agencies to "identify, revise, or repeal regulations… that unnecessarily hinder AI development or deployment" (Plan, p. 3). This overarching directive aims to stimulate rapid AI growth through streamlined policies that expedite permitting processes, open federal lands for construction of AI infrastructure, produce skilled workers to build these projects, and establish stringent security standards to protect them.

1. Streamlined Regulations For AI-Related Projects

The Plan's section titled "Create Streamlined Permitting for Data Centers, Semiconductor Manufacturing Facilities, and Energy Infrastructure while Guaranteeing Security" (Plan, pp. 14-15) contains the following directives:

• Agencies shall "establish new Categorical Exclusions under NEPA to cover data center-related actions that normally do not have a significant effect on the environment"
• The administration will "expand the use of the FAST-41 process to cover all data center and data center energy projects eligible under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act of 2015"
• Relevant agencies shall "explore the need for a nationwide Clean Water Act Section 404 permit for data centers"
• Agencies will "make Federal lands available for data center construction and the construction of power generation infrastructure"

These policies aim to reduce the time and complexity of federal environmental reviews for qualifying projects. Qualifying projects receive expedited treatment when they involve: (1) at least $500 million in committed capital expenditures; (2) electric load addition exceeding 100MW; (3) projects that “protect national security”; and (4) those designated by the Secretaries of Defense, Interior, Commerce, or Energy. The Plan’s specific reference to categorical exclusions under NEPA suggests that qualifying projects may proceed without environmental assessments or environmental impact statements.

2. Development of Energy Infrastructure to Support AI-Related Projects

Under "Develop a Grid to Match the Pace of AI Innovation" (Plan, pp. 15-16), the Plan outlines a three-pronged approach to energy infrastructure:

1. "Stabilize the grid of today" by preventing "premature decommissioning of critical power generation resources";
2. "Optimize existing grid resources" through "advanced grid management technologies and upgrades to power lines";
3. "Prioritize the interconnection of reliable, dispatchable power sources" including "enhanced geothermal, nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion".

For construction firms, the second and third prongs will stoke surging demand for new geothermal, nuclear, and hydropower projects, as well as facilitate large-scale works of improvement on existing energy infrastructure.

3. Labor Force Training and Development Programs to Build AI-Related Projects

The Plan establishes directives under "Train a Skilled Workforce for AI Infrastructure" (Plan, p. 17), instructing the Department of Labor and Department of Commerce to:

• "Create a national initiative to identify high-priority occupations essential to the buildout of AI-related infrastructure";
• Support "industry-driven training programs that address workforce needs tied to priority AI infrastructure occupations";
• Partner with education and workforce system stakeholders to expand early career exposure programs and expand Registered Apprenticeships for occupations critical to AI infrastructure.

The Plan specifically identifies "electricians, advanced HVAC technicians, and a host of other high-paying occupations" as critical to infrastructure development. While the Plan provides few details in terms of what these “skill frameworks”, “competency models” and “training programs” will look like, these provisions indicate federal support for addressing skilled labor availability in construction trades.

4. Security Standards to Protect AI-Related Projects

For government projects, the Plan mandates creation of "new technical standards for high-security AI data centers" (Plan, p. 16) through collaboration between the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, National Security Council, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. These requirements apply only to a subset of data center projects but could create a specialized market for contractors with appropriate security credentials.

Impacts and Opportunities

The scope and scale of the Plan suggests that its impact on the construction industry will be seen over a period of 10-years or more, with the opportunities for well-positioned firms compounding over time.

Near Term (1 Year)

In the near term, the establishment of NEPA categorical exclusions may accelerate project timelines; data centers that would previously require 12-24 months of environmental review could qualify for streamlined processing as early as next year.

Hours after the White House released the Plan, the Department of Energy announced that it had "selected four sites — Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and Savannah River Site — to move forward with plans to invite private sector partners to develop cutting edge AI data center and energy generation projects." According to the Department of Energy's announcement, "partners could be selected by the end of the year."

Medium Term (2 to 3 Years)

Federal agencies' identification of available federal lands will likely continue on a rolling basis, though the administrative process for making such lands available for construction may take longer if legal challenges are mounted or negotiations with private sector partners encounter complications.

Long Term (3 to 10 Years+)

The Plan's longer-term implications extend beyond regulatory reform. If the Plan is successfully implemented, the AI-infrastructure construction market will shift from project-by-project to a sustained cycle of development – requiring significant upfront investment for supply to keep up with demand. The Plan's emphasis on emerging energy technologies — particularly enhanced geothermal and nuclear — suggests that construction specifications and expertise requirements may evolve significantly as these technologies mature. In addition, if implemented successfully, the Plan’s regulatory streamlining and government partnership models will provide a model for foreign nations, creating opportunities for U.S. firms to lead or consult on international projects for decades to come.

Conclusion

The Plan’s Build American AI Infrastructure pillar aims to reduce regulatory barriers and attract sustained investment in high-value AI development projects. Yet, the Plan offers only the Trump Administration’s policy pronouncements. Realizing its ambitious vision will require cohesive intergovernmental coordination. Only time will tell if federal agencies will be capable of implementing the Plan’s policy directives effectively, and whether state and local governments will be able, or willing, to carry them out on the ground.

If implemented successfully, however, the Plan could unlock a generational opportunity for construction firms agile enough to navigate evolving regulations and adopt integrated delivery models at scale — positioning them to lead a multi-trillion-dollar development cycle.