Across the globe, governments now find themselves in a race to roll out new, all-encompassing AI and Machine Learning (ML) strategies and initiatives which place data centers at the heart of progress.
This is certainly true of the United States, a major player in the search for greater AI facilities and capacity. As buildouts increase in pace and scale, a recent policy change is expected to significantly alter the country’s data center development plans.
On June 23, the Trump administration signed an executive order outlining plans to accelerate federal permitting of data center infrastructure across the country. Created to make AI data centers a national priority, the order explicitly states that the government will ‘utilize federally owned land and resources for the expeditious and orderly development of data centers’, under the remit of the Department of Energy.
What Will These Policy Changes Mean for U.S. Data Centers?
One key item of the executive order is the easing of regulations linked to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The federal law encourages agencies to fully consider the environmental effects of proposed actions before they are approved.
The government aims to de-emphasize these regulations to expand the use of federal and brownfield sites for data center projects across the country. Facilities that require greater than 100 megawatts (MW) of new loads dedicated to the use of AI, or that have at least $500 million USD in capital expenditure committed to the project, are empowered to use these sites under the terms of the order.
For those following the U.S. data center market, the order follows significant private investment and new projects throughout 2025. In January, a consortium of major AI players – including OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle – publicly launched the ‘Stargate Project’, a private sector-led venture aims to invest approximately $500 billion USD into advanced AI infrastructure. Set to establish U.S. dominance within the field of AI, the newly created Stargate LLC will see the development of new data centers and the creation of over 100,000 jobs over the next four years.
The first data center location outlined in the Stargate Project is in Abilene, Texas. Dubbed ‘Project Ludicrous’, construction on the site started in June 2024 and is already operational, supplying Nvidia GB200 racks to OpenAI. Now that Stargate LLC’s plans are publicly known, we can expect to see potential expansion to other locations across the U.S. in the coming years.
The need for change is further demonstrated by reports that North America, led by the United States, has over 20.5GW of operational data center capacity, and just 6.4GW under construction, with a further 46.1GW planned. In the short term, and with remaining vacancy rates at just 4.9%, it leaves operators with little buffer as they try to meet AI workload demands.
How Will These Developments Affect Data Center Stakeholders?
These developments come at a pivotal time for the United States, especially in the context of the race for AI dominance. It’s well known that operators in the country have been struggling with lead times when driving buildouts, while also incorporating appropriate renewable energy sources and overcoming current grid capacity.
On top of these concerns, there are also a number of environmental, water, and electrical power usage impacts to consider when carrying out rapid buildouts.
While some of these concerns can be addressed by the policy changes and investment seen in 2025, it remains to be seen whether power issues in the short term will be exacerbated. Simply put, the faster these buildouts are completed, the sooner operators will see the benefits, and the less disruption there will be for the general public.
How Can ProLabs Support These Projects?
Thankfully, ProLabs is on hand to aid these developments. We can accelerate time to deployment through pre-qualified, inventory-ready components and technologies that minimize lead times during the construction process. Because our products offer the same level of performance as OEMs without the vendor lock-in and at up to 70% of the cost, it also means these can be carried out in a much more cost-effective manner too.
ProLabs offers operators and system integrators purpose-built transceivers that have been created for AI, ML, hyperscale rack builds, and complex data center environments. The 800G OSFP 2XFR4, for example, simplifies large-scale data center deployments into manageable workloads, while the 800G OSFP 2XSR4 offers an extended reach when compared to other OEM transceivers on the market.
Capable of reaching up to 2 kilometers and integrating ubiquitous duplex LC connectors, this transceiver reduces both lead times and the complexity of structured cabling commonly found in AI data centers.
Additionally, ProLabs solutions offer outstanding compliance and sustainability benefits. Our low-power, high-density transceivers come with round-the-clock engineering support to ensure they work within data center environments during and after the construction process, with class-leading order turnarounds.
Having supported the U.S. data center market consistently over the years, ProLabs is ready to help operators take the next step and deliver the AI infrastructure of the future.
Contact a ProLabs expert today. Our team is ready to help you with advice that fits your needs.
