The frame · Digital public infrastructure
California's digital
public infrastructure
Mail, highways, the power grid and broadband are shared systems that each generation builds for the next. AI now depends on one more of them, the computing power beneath it. Digital public infrastructure (DPI) treats that compute the way California has treated its other foundations, as something held in public hands that every Californian can reach. CalCompute is the public cloud computing cluster California has called for, and the framework for building it is being written now.
"Fostering research and innovation that benefits the public by expanding access to computational resources."
California Senate Bill 53
The idea
What is digital public infrastructure?
The shared digital systems a society builds and governs as public goods, open to everyone.
Digital public infrastructure (DPI) is the shared digital systems a society builds and governs as public goods, open to everyone and owned by no single company. It spans payment rails, identity systems, connectivity and, increasingly, the public computing power beneath artificial intelligence.
Some infrastructure is too basic to leave to whoever can afford to own it. The postal network, the interstate highways, the power grid and public broadband were each built once and held in common so that everyone could use them. DPI applies the same principle to the digital foundations of modern life.
The framing is now international. The United Nations placed digital public infrastructure at the center of its Global Digital Compact, adopted in September 2024, as a foundation for inclusive and equitable digital development. India's public digital systems are the most-cited working example. What these systems share is that they are held by the public, so they answer to the public.
AI is the newest layer that fits this description. It already shapes job applications, medical records, classrooms and government services, and it runs on compute that sits almost entirely in private hands. Californians generate the data and live with the results, yet hold none of the machinery. DPI answers that imbalance by building a public foundation, so access does not depend on who owns the hardware.
The lineage
California has built the foundations before
Each was infrastructure the market would not open to everyone on its own, so the public built it. Compute is the next case.
Delivery to any address, one price
Roads open to everyone who travels
Internet where carriers won't build
Public compute for AI
Framework in progressCalifornia's move
What is California's digital public infrastructure for AI?
The statute sets up the public option for compute the way the earlier foundations were set up, deliberately and in public.
California's plan for digital public infrastructure for AI is CalCompute, the public cloud computing cluster Senate Bill 53 calls for. A consortium is writing the framework for creating it, and that framework is meant to expand access to computational resources so AI research and innovation benefit the public.
On Sept. 29, 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 53, enacted as Chapter 138. Its CalCompute provisions are now California law. The statute establishes a consortium within the Government Operations Agency and charges it with developing a framework for the creation of CalCompute, a public cloud computing cluster. It also directs the consortium to make reasonable efforts, to the extent possible, to establish CalCompute within the University of California.
The law names the purpose in public-good terms. The framework is to advance artificial intelligence that is "safe, ethical, equitable, and sustainable" by fostering research and innovation that benefits the public and by enabling equitable innovation through expanded access to computational resources. That is a description of digital public infrastructure.
Held in public hands
The statute's object is "a public cloud computing cluster," with the consortium directed to make reasonable efforts, to the extent possible, to establish it within the University of California.
Governed in public
Membership is set by statute: appointments by the Secretary of Government Operations, labor representatives appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and public-interest representatives appointed by the Senate Rules Committee.
Built to a deadline
The consortium delivers its framework report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2027 and then dissolves. It is a defined task with a public deliverable.
That is why CalCompute counts as infrastructure. It is public in how it is held, how it is governed and what it is for, and it came out of the same democratic process that laid the earlier foundations. California went from a vetoed provision to codified law inside a year. The framework report is now being written, and we are organizing to carry it the rest of the way.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Digital public infrastructure and California's CalCompute, answered.
What is digital public infrastructure (DPI)?
Digital public infrastructure is the shared digital systems a society builds and governs as public goods, open to everyone and owned by no single company. It includes payment rails, identity systems, connectivity and, increasingly, the public computing power beneath artificial intelligence.
What is California's digital public infrastructure for AI?
California's plan for digital public infrastructure for AI is CalCompute, the public cloud computing cluster Senate Bill 53 calls for. A consortium is writing the framework for creating it, and that framework is meant to expand access to computational resources so AI research and innovation benefit the public.
Who governs CalCompute?
CalCompute is guided by a consortium within the California Government Operations Agency. Its members are appointed by the Secretary of Government Operations, the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Rules Committee, and include labor and public-interest representatives.
When will CalCompute's framework be delivered?
The consortium delivers a framework report for creating CalCompute to the California Legislature on or before January 1, 2027. The report covers infrastructure, cost, governance, use, workforce and partnerships, and the consortium dissolves once it is submitted.
The framework is written by volunteers
The roads, the grid and the broadband came about because people organized and asked for them. The framework for CalCompute is being written the same way, by volunteers across California. There is room for you in it.