The idea is to develop more advanced artificial intelligence models and compete with China.

Following a recent meeting at the White House, attended by OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and other tech leaders, the startup shared a document with government officials outlining the economic and national security benefits of building five-gigawatt data centres in various US states.

Five gigawatts is roughly the equivalent of five nuclear reactors, or enough to power almost three million homes.

OpenAI said investing in these facilities would result in thousands of new jobs, boost the gross domestic product, and ensure the US can maintain its lead in AI development.

However, the document said that the US needs policies supporting greater data centre capacity to achieve that.

Constellation Energy CEO Joe Dominguez said: “Whatever we're talking about is not only something that's never been done, but I don't believe it's feasible as an engineer, as somebody who grew up in this.  It's certainly not possible under a timeframe that will address national security and timing."