Latest news with #EnergyandInnovationSummit

The Hindu
4 hours ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Trump joins tech and energy executives amid AI push
U.S. President Donald Trump will join executives from some of the largest U.S. tech and energy companies for a summit in Pittsburgh on Tuesday as the administration prepares more measures to power the U.S. expansion of artificial intelligence. Top economic rivals, the U.S. and China, are locked in a technological arms race over who can dominate AI as the technology takes on increasing importance everywhere from corporate boardrooms to the battlefield. The Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University is expected to bring tech executives and officials from top energy and tech firms, including Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet and Exxon Mobil, to discuss how to position the U.S. as a leader in AI. Trump will use the summit, arranged by U.S. Senator Dave McCormick, a Republican ally from Pennsylvania, to announce about $90 billion in artificial intelligence and energy investments in the state. McCormick said in his introductory remarks "the stakes couldn't be higher," even as Nvidia and AMD prepared to resume selling their chips to U.S. rival China. 'If the United States does not lead this revolution on our own terms, we will hand control of our infrastructure, our data, our leadership and our way of life to the Chinese Communist Party,' he said. Big Tech is scrambling to secure enough electricity to power the energy-guzzling data centers needed for its rapid expansion of artificial intelligence. Companies began announcing their plans early on Tuesday, with Google inking a $3 billion electricity deal and CoreWeave touting a $6 billion AI data center. Google said it secured as much as 3 gigawatts of U.S. hydropower in a deal between the tech firm and Brookfield Asset Management that includes initial 20-year power purchase agreements, for electricity generated from two facilities in Pennsylvania. Asset management firm Blackstone's President Jon Gray also said they will announce on Tuesday a $25 billion investment in data centers and energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania. The CEOs expected to attend include Khaldoon Al-Mubarak of Abu Dhabi investment company Mubadala, Rene Haas of Arm, Larry Fink of BlackRock, Darren Woods of Exxon Mobil, Brendan Bechtel of Bechtel and Dario Amodei of Anthropic. The White House is considering executive actions in the coming weeks to make it easier for power-generating projects to connect to the grid and also provide federal land on which to build the data centers needed to expand AI technology, Reuters previously reported. The administration is also weighing streamlining permitting for data centers by creating a nationwide Clean Water Act permit, rather than requiring companies to seek permits on a state-by-state basis. Trump ordered his administration in January to produce an AI Action Plan that would make "America the world capital in artificial intelligence" and reduce regulatory barriers to its rapid expansion. That report, which includes input from the National Security Council, is due by July 23. Trump is set to mark that deadline with a major speech as part of an event titled 'Winning the AI Race,' organised by White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks and his co-hosts on the All-In podcast, a White House official told Reuters. U.S. power demand is hitting record highs this year after nearly two decades of stagnation as AI and cloud computing data centers balloon in numbers and size across the country. The demand is also leading to unprecedented deals between the power industry and technology companies, including the attempted restart of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania between Constellation Energy and Microsoft. The surge has led to concerns about power shortages that threaten to raise electricity bills and increase the risk of blackouts, while slowing Big Tech in its global race against countries like China to dominate AI.


Axios
9 hours ago
- Business
- Axios
Trump visit sparks protests at Pittsburgh AI summit
President Trump's visit to Pittsburgh's Energy and Innovation Summit ignited protests from critics who objected to his administration's policies and Carnegie Mellon's role in the event. The big picture: At a "Stop the Summit" rally near campus, CMU students and faculty criticized the university for hosting Trump, citing his administration's research funding cuts, international students' visa revocations and probes into diversity programs. Roughly 1,500 CMU students and staff signed a petition last week urging CMU to reconsider hosting. At a " Good Trouble Lives On" march hosted by Indivisible Pittsburgh along Forbes Avenue, activists denounced the Trump administration's policies on Medicaid, SNAP, LGBTQ+ care and immigration. Zoom in: Others voiced concerns about the potential environmental impact of energy-intensive data center buildout, including increased fracking and water use. Some worried efforts to lure tech giants and ramp up office development in the city will drive up housing costs and squeeze out lower-income renters. Friction point: "Good Trouble" marchers had a tense standoff with Pittsburgh police in riot gear at Forbes and Craig, where streets were closed. Protesters chanted, "Shame on you, CMU," "Dump Trump" and anti-police slogans for more than an hour. Yes, but: Organizers said they were notified in advance that police planned to block the street to protesters closer to campus. Catch up quick: Trump and Sen. Dave McCormick on Tuesday announced $90 billion in private-sector investments in a larger plan to boost data center development across Pennsylvania, promising tens of thousands of new jobs. What they're saying: Carrie McDonough, an associate professor of chemistry at CMU, said Trump's research funding cuts — and reductions to agencies like the NIH — will stall progress on finding treatments and cures for chronic, often disabling, diseases like her own multiple sclerosis. "We here at CMU are struggling with all of this on our campus," McDonough said. "Our hard work has been disrupted; our projects have been terminated. My own projects have been terminated, yet Trump thinks he's welcome here." The other side: CMU President Farnam Jahanian, in an open letter, called the summit a chance to advance the university's mission, noting CMU has taken legal action and otherwise pushed back against Trump administration policies the university has disagreed with.


Technical.ly
13 hours ago
- Business
- Technical.ly
Everything we know about the $90B corporate pledge to invest in Pennsylvania AI, energy and data centers
Big tech companies are pledging more multibillion-dollar investments in Pennsylvania, this time to the tune of $90 billion. President Donald Trump and Senator Dave McCormick plan to announce 'more than $90 billion in private-sector investments' at the inaugural Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University today, according to a recent press release from McCormick's office. 'This summit is about catalyzing, among other things, $90 billion of investment and tens of thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania,' McCormick said during opening remarks of the summit. The private investment is the largest in commonwealth history — toppling the recent $20 billion from Amazon — and will 'create tens of thousands of jobs,' per the release. McCormick's office did not respond to multiple requests from to comment on the summit. High-profile tech leaders announce major investments The event features a stacked guest list of top tech and political officials. Alongside Trump and McCormick, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro will also be in attendance. Top CEOs such as Dario Amodei of Anthropic, Matt Garman of Amazon Web Services, Alex Karp of Palantir and Ruth Porat of Google will also be there, according to the recent release. Plus, Gecko Robotics CEO Jake Loosararian and Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian will represent Pittsburgh's innovation scene. Here are some of the latest investment announcements by companies participating in the summit. Google is committing $3 billion to upgrade two Pennsylvania hydropower plants and plans to spend $25 billion regionally on data centers and AI infrastructure. Plus, the company's new 'AI Works for Pennsylvania' initiative will offer free AI training, support for small businesses and workforce development programs. Asset management firm Blackstone will spend $25 billion to build multiple data centers in northeastern Pennsylvania and a number of natural gas power plants to support those developments. Energy equipment manufacturer GE Vernova is investing $100 million into its factory in Charleroi, Washington County, to expand its production of critical equipment for the electrical grid and power plants. Westinghouse Electric is partnering with Google Cloud to use AI to speed up nuclear reactor construction and improve efficiency at both new and existing plants across the commonwealth. Nvidia is teaming up with Pittsburgh's Eaton Corp. to advance power management and high-voltage infrastructure for AI data centers. Why Pennsylvania, and why now? Public interest and private investment in data centers are surging nationwide, and Pennsylvania is quickly becoming a key player. Data centers are facilities that store and process the massive amounts of data we generate online every day, and they require a lot of energy to do it. With the boom in artificial intelligence, the demand for data centers that can handle the complex computations has grown significantly. In Pennsylvania, Amazon recently pledged to spend $20 billion to build out data centers that would create at least 1,250 high-paying tech jobs. At the time, the commonwealth also committed $10 million to workforce development efforts. Google selected Luzerne and Bucks Counties for its first sites, regions known for their strong energy production. '[AI and cloud computing] is a transformative technology for enterprise, for innovation, and it needs a lot of power at a lot of data centers to make that realization happen,' CEO of Amazon Web Services Matt Garman said at the summit event. 'We looked for places where that investment was possible and Pennsylvania rose to the challenge.' There's bipartisan support for bringing more energy and data center investment to Pennsylvania. Shapiro and McCormick sat down together at the summit to discuss why Pennsylvania is primed for this type of investment. 'This is a global race for both energy dominance and AI dominance,' Shapiro said during the summit panel, 'and we need homegrown Pennsylvanians to be doing this work, and we need investment from all across the country and all across the globe.' Pennsylvania's access to energy, especially nuclear and natural gas, and skilled labor were a main focus of the bipartisan panel, which has been a central theme for the entire event. 'Pennsylvania is uniquely positioned to deliver the abundant, affordable energy that growing AI and advanced manufacturing sectors demand,' McCormick said in a prepared statement. 'We have the skilled workforce to build and operate this critical infrastructure, world-class universities driving innovation and strategic proximity to over half the country's population.'


The Star
16 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
Factbox-Some of the big US investments being made in AI and energy
FILE PHOTO: A building complex that houses Compass Datacenters is partially visible from a nearby neighborhood in Broadlands, Virginia, U.S., March 13, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -American companies rolled out a series of big ticket AI and energy investment pledges on Tuesday, part of a push by U.S. President Donald Trump to maintain America's edge in the booming technology sector. Here are some of the biggest announcements timed around the Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University, which is expected to include $90 billion in investments in and around Pennsylvania. Alphabet-owned Google has struck a $3 billion deal with Brookfield Asset Management for electricity generated from two hydropower facilities in Pennsylvania. The tech giant will also invest $25 billion in data centers across Pennsylvania and neighboring states over the next two years, Semafor reported on Tuesday. Asset management firm Blackstone plans a $25 billion investment in data centers and energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania, its President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Gray told a panel at the summit. On Monday Meta Platforms Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said his company would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build several massive AI data centers, including a multi-gigawatt data center dubbed Prometheus, which is planned for Ohio. Cloud infrastructure technology company CoreWeave plans to spend up to $6 billion on building a new artificial intelligence data center in Pennsylvania, the company said on Tuesday. The pledges come amid a surge in investments for AI startups, a sign that the field continues to thrive even as venture capital firms are struggling to raise money, a report from PitchBook on Tuesday showed. (Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Factbox-Some of the big US investments being made in AI and energy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -American companies rolled out a series of big ticket AI and energy investment pledges on Tuesday, part of a push by U.S. President Donald Trump to maintain America's edge in the booming technology sector. Here are some of the biggest announcements timed around the Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University, which is expected to include $90 billion in investments in and around Pennsylvania. Alphabet-owned Google has struck a $3 billion deal with Brookfield Asset Management for electricity generated from two hydropower facilities in Pennsylvania. The tech giant will also invest $25 billion in data centers across Pennsylvania and neighboring states over the next two years, Semafor reported on Tuesday. Asset management firm Blackstone plans a $25 billion investment in data centers and energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania, its President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Gray told a panel at the summit. On Monday Meta Platforms Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said his company would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build several massive AI data centers, including a multi-gigawatt data center dubbed Prometheus, which is planned for Ohio. Cloud infrastructure technology company CoreWeave plans to spend up to $6 billion on building a new artificial intelligence data center in Pennsylvania, the company said on Tuesday. The pledges come amid a surge in investments for AI startups, a sign that the field continues to thrive even as venture capital firms are struggling to raise money, a report from PitchBook on Tuesday showed. Sign in to access your portfolio