The summit that took place Tuesday morning marks the next steps in Pennsylvania’s energy goals under President Trump.
President Trump joined Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) at the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit to announce a new $70 billion investment plan into the state’s energy and Artificial Intelligence sectors. Sen. McCormick said the new investments will create tens of thousands of quality jobs in Pennsylvania and will position the state at the forefront of AI growth. President Trump’s administration has been very proactive in its support of AI and has made his goal of American dominance in the sector clear throughout the first six months of his second term.
Sen. McCormick planned the summit at Carnegie Mellon despite backlash from some students and faculty, but the event. Along with President Trump, McCormick received support from Gov. Josh Shapiro and other high-ranking Pennsylvanians. Tech and business leaders including Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were expected to attend the event as well. According to Sen. McCormick, more than 60 other influential leaders involved in energy and AI would be in attendance.
“We’re going to position Pennsylvania as a leading hub for energy, Artificial Intelligence and innovation,” Sen. McCormick’s office said in a press release. “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.”
President Trump has been active in meetings the last several weeks with other domestic policy goals, including a recent deal between the federal government and Nippon Steel to continue producing steel domestically and primarily in Pittsburgh. The President also recently met with Amazon prior to its announcement of new $20 billion data centers throughout Pennsylvania. Several of President Trump’s cabinet members joined him at Carnegie Mellon for the energy summit and will depart with him Tuesday afternoon.
During the event, Sen. McCormick specified the need for massive manpower and data requirements involved in building larger AI programs across Pennsylvania. He cited the state’s significant natural gas resources as a reason it’s the perfect home for expanding on President Trump’s ambitious AI and energy goals.
“The natural gas industry has been talking about this opportunity for a long time,” said Jim Welty, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition. “And the reason is we have this resource right under our feet.”
President Trump spoke and made clear his administration’s openness to the fossil fuel industry, a change of pace from President Biden’s push for renewable energy sources. Sen. McCormick said the new data centers are expected to put President Trump’s energy policies into action. He also highlighted the number of skilled workers in the Pittsburgh-area as a key reason the new investments will be successful.
