President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled more than $90 billion in private investments for artificial intelligence and energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania, positioning the state as a key battleground in the global race for AI dominance.
Speaking at Carnegie Mellon University during the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, Trump joined executives from major technology and energy companies to announce what officials called the largest investment package in the state’s history.
“We’re here today because we believe that America’s destiny is to dominate every industry and be the first in every technology, and that includes being the world’s number one superpower in artificial intelligence,” Trump told attendees during a 30-minute roundtable discussion.
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The investment package includes Google‘s $25 billion commitment for data centers and infrastructure, including a 3-gigawatt hydropower deal with Brookfield Asset Management; Blackstone‘s $25 billion for data centers and natural gas plants in Pennsylvania; and CoreWeave‘s $6 billion for AI data center expansion.
The announcements build on Amazon‘s earlier commitment of $20 billion for Pennsylvania data centers, which state officials previously called the largest economic development project in Pennsylvania history.
The summit brought together top executives from major corporations, including Alphabet President Ruth Porat, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Blackstone President Jon Gray, and Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Energy Secretary Chris Wright joined several other Trump administration officials at the event.
Pennsylvania Republican Senator Dave McCormick, who hosted the event, said the investments would bring “tens of thousands of jobs” to the region by combining the state’s technological capabilities with its energy resources. “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,” McCormick said.
Trump emphasized nuclear energy and fossil fuels as key to powering AI development, highlighting Pennsylvania-based Westinghouse‘s plans to build 10 nuclear reactors nationwide.
He dismissed wind power as unreliable, stating “it just doesn’t work” and calling it “rather intermittent.”
The administration plans to consider executive actions that would streamline data center development, including easier grid connections for power projects and a nationwide Clean Water Act permit system to replace state-by-state approvals.
Environmental groups and activists mounted significant opposition to the summit, criticizing the focus on fossil fuels over renewable energy. Protesters gathered on Carnegie Mellon’s campus, with signs reading “protest the summit.”
Pittsburgh Public Safety officers used pepper spray on demonstrators who blocked streets and confronted event attendees Tuesday evening. Officials made no arrests, police said.
“Pennsylvanians are paying the price for decisions made behind closed doors: higher utility bills, contaminated water, poor air quality, and worsening health,” said Hilary Flint, Pennsylvania field organizing manager at the Center for Oil and Gas Organizing.
Environmental critics noted that many technology companies, including Google and Meta, have previously invested heavily in renewable energy to power their data centers.
The White House will soon release an AI Action Plan that aims to make America “the world capital in artificial intelligence.” Recent congressional budget legislation rolled back green energy tax credits, potentially making renewable energy more expensive for data center development.
The International Energy Agency projects that data processing for AI will consume more electricity in the US by 2030 than manufacturing steel, cement, and chemicals combined.
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