Trump unveils $90 billion in energy and AI investments for Pennsylvania during summit in Pittsburgh
Mr. Trump, who spoke for about 30 minutes during a roundtable discussion at the Inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University, said 20 "leading technology and energy companies" will invest in Pennsylvania to develop a new artificial intelligence economy, capitalizing on Pennsylvania's technology and energy assets.
"We're back in Pittsburgh to announce the largest package of investments in the history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," Mr. Trump said on Tuesday.
Among the projects will be the construction of data centers to help provide the enormous amounts of energy needed to power AI, and an energy innovation center to train workers in the Pittsburgh region in energy and AI jobs.
The event was hosted by Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, who said the Pittsburgh region is uniquely positioned to marry its technological know-how with its vast energy resources in natural gas and nuclear to create a new AI economy. He said the investments will bring "tens of thousands of jobs" to Pennsylvania.
"Our vision for this event came from the realization about the crucial link between artificial intelligence and energy, but never before have the leaders of all those companies, as well as major investors, come together," McCormick said on Tuesday.
Mr. Trump highlighted Westinghouse, saying the Pennsylvania-based company is set to build 10 nuclear reactors across the country. He also touted his involvement in consummating a $14 billion partnership between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, which he said will revitalize the Mon Valley.
Mr. Trump said the investments announced on Tuesday will spawn the development of AI in the region.
"We're building a future where American workers will forge the steel, produce the energy, build the factories and really run a country like, I believe, this country has never been run before. I think we have a true golden age for America," Mr. Trump said. "We've been showing it, and it truly is the hottest country anywhere in the world. I'm honored to be in Pennsylvania, and I'm honored to be in Pittsburgh, and you're going to see some real action here."
The organizers are hoping the investment mark only a beginning, hopeful of leveraging the summit to ramp up energy production, build more data center and spawn new AI companies in the Pittbsurgh area — making the region the center of AI in the country.
"We have phenomenal technology resources inside of our universities systems," PNC Financial Services Group CEO Bill Demchak said on Tuesday. "We have an abundance of energy, we have Westinghouse in the area. We have labor availability and we have a huge need as we see the transformation that AI is causing."
The event came after Amazon's announcement in June of a $20 billion investment in data centers across Pennsylvania, the largest economic development project in the state's history.
Several of the president's Cabinet members joined him at the summit.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks were among Trump administration officials listed as summit participants.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, was also in attendance. He is participating in a panel about major investments in Pennsylvania, moderated by Penn State University President Dr. Neeli Bendapudi.
Industry leaders like Alphabet President and CEO Ruth Porat, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Blackstone President and CEO Jon Gray, Gecko Robotics founder and CEO Jake Loosararian, EQT President and CEO Toby Rice, and Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman were all listed as panel participants, as well.
Mr. Trump's visit was not without pushback, as evidenced on CMU's campus, where signs painted with the words "protest the summit" were seen on The Fence.
That sentiment on the CMU Fence was also posted on social media to, in the words of activists, "call on students and the Pittsburgh community to stand against fossil fuels, AI for surveillance, and authoritarianism."
The advocates, who lined the streets across parts of the city, said the summit prioritizes corporate interests over sustainability and ethics.
"I do believe we should be focusing more on renewable energy, green energy. Just kowtowing to oil and gas is not the way to the future," Zach Zourelias of Plum said. "I'm not saying get rid of it entirely. It is important for Pennsylvania, it is important for the country. But we need to be looking to the future, not the past."
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