A tech founder is calling for an executive order to fast-track a new “AI city” on 512 acres of federal land at Alameda Point — the site of an existing VA project and nesting grounds for endangered birds. City officials were never contacted, and the mayor called it a "head-scratcher."

As KRON4 reports, James Ingallinera, the founder of the proposed city — called "Frontier Valley" — outlined his proposal in a June 15 X post, asking Trump to declare a “national security emergency” and transfer the land from Department of Veteran Affairs to the Department of Defense. The idea, he says, is to accelerate robotics and artificial intelligence development on a scale that regulatory processes in California can’t currently support.

“This is the Manhattan project of our time,” Ingallinera said in a promotional video filmed on-site, invoking fears that China will overtake the U.S. in AI dominance if drastic action isn’t taken. His plan includes office and manufacturing space, housing for 10,000 people, a waterfront park, and statues of American pioneers, as reported by KQED.

But the city of Alameda says it first heard about the proposal when it was posted online. “They haven’t talked to the city at all,” Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft told KQED. She called the plan a “head scratcher,” especially given the site’s vulnerability to sea level rise and its designation as a nature reserve.

The land in question is part of a larger 624-acre site currently owned by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA already has active plans to build a medical clinic and a National Cemetery Columbarium at the site, intended to serve more than 300,000 veterans and their families. The project, which has been funded by Congress, will be constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Ashcraft called the VA's project “very much needed” and reaffirmed that the city stands behind the cemetery and regional park proposals. A 158-acre open space park is also planned nearby, to be operated by the East Bay Regional Park District.

In a recent op-ed for Pirate Wires, Ingallinera claims that the federally owned nature reserve could be transformed into a special regulation district by executive order, skirting both local jurisdiction and environmental constraints. He’s even drafted a sample executive order, which includes invoking the National Emergencies Act and bypassing Endangered Species Act protections through a legal exemption. No agency has confirmed receiving a formal request to initiate such a process.

Gary Marcus, an AI expert and prominent tech critic, was skeptical of the urgency implied by the pitch. In an email to KQED, Marcus said the biggest hurdle to developing humanoid robotics isn’t permitting, but unsolved software problems: “Companies can utterly work on that to a fair degree without a lot of red tape.”

The proposal has drawn comparisons to the controversial “California Forever” development in Solano County, with some critics questioning the real motivation behind such large-scale city-building initiatives by tech insiders. Alameda Point is already home to several innovation-focused companies, including Saildrone and Kairos Power, as well as residential and commercial developments.

Sarah Henry, a spokesperson for the city of Alameda, said in a statement that “no reasonable fact” supports a national security emergency declaration at the site. “The city is in full support of the VA facility and regional parks project, which will serve Bay Area veterans, residents and visitors for many decades to come,” she said.

So far, neither Frontier Valley nor any federal agency has responded to further media requests.

Image: Thomas Hawk/Flickr

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