WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The White House

announced a new task force to deal with the growing needs of AI

infrastructure after a meeting on Thursday between senior U.S.

officials and top technology and power company executives.

Led by the National Economic Council, the National

Security Council and others, the task force will coordinate

policies to advance data center development while weighing

economic, national security, and environmental goals, the White

House said.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google senior executive

Ruth Porat and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei were among the tech

company representatives who attended the meeting.

The White House said participants discussed how to meet

clean energy, permitting and workforce requirements for

developing data centers and power infrastructure needed for

advanced AI operations.

Generative AI, or GenAI, can create text, photos and

videos in response to open-ended prompts. It has generated buzz

about its potential uses such as relieving mundane tasks but

also prompted fears about potential misuse.

AI can strain the energy industry as U.S. technology

companies seek to secure a shrinking supply of electricity for

their rapidly expanding data centers.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Commerce Secretary

Gina Raimondo also participated in the meeting.

Granholm told Reuters in June that President Joe Biden's

administration was asking technology companies to invest in new

climate-friendly power generation to cover their surging demand.

The surge in demand from AI could complicate Biden's target of

decarbonizing the power sector by 2035 to fight climate change.

"President Biden and Vice President Harris are committed to

deepening U.S. leadership in AI by ensuring data centers are

built in the United States while ensuring the technology is

developed responsibly," said White House spokesperson Robyn

Patterson.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan as well as White

House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and National Economic Council

Director Lael Brainard also took part, along with top Biden

administration climate officials.

The meeting shows that the White House recognizes the

priority of infrastructure to create jobs and help guarantee

that the benefits of AI are widely distributed, OpenAI said.

"OpenAI believes infrastructure is destiny and that building

additional infrastructure in the U.S. is critical to the

country's industrial policy and economic future," a company

spokesperson said.