The push for artificial intelligence-related investments in Western Pennsylvania continued Thursday with a second conference that brought together business leaders and elected officials. 

Not in attendance this time was President Donald Trump, who headlined a July 15 celebration of AI opportunity at Carnegie Mellon University.

This time Gov. Josh Shapiro, U.S. Sen. David McCormick and others converged in Bakery Square in Larimer to emphasize emerging public-private initiatives in anticipation of growing data center development and other artificial intelligence-related infrastructure including power plants. 

Here’s what speakers and attendees at the summit were saying.

AI is not a fad

As regional leaders and business investors consider their options, BNY’s CEO Robin Vince cautioned against not taking AI seriously.

“The way to get left behind in the next 10 years is to not care about AI,” Vince said

“AI is transforming everything,” said Selin Song during Thursday’s event. As president of Google Customer Solutions, Song said that the company’s recent investment of $25 billion across the Pennsylvania-Jersey-Maryland grid will help give AI training access to the more than 1 million small businesses in the state.

Google isn’t the only game in town 

Shapiro noted that Amazon recently announced plans to spend at least $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and AI innovation campuses across the state.

“This is a generational change,” Shapiro said, calling it the largest private sector investment in Pennsylvania’s history. “This is our next chapter in innovative growth. It all fits together. This new investment is beyond data center 1.0 that we saw in Virginia.”   

Fracking concerns elevated

With all of the plans for new power-hungry data centers, some are concerned that the AI push will create more environmental destruction. Outside the summit, Protect PT and the Breathe Project cautioned that the interest in AI development is a “Trojan horse” for more natural gas fracking. Amid President Donald Trump’s attempts to dismantle wind and solar power, alternatives to natural gas appear limited. 

Nuclear ready for its moment

But one possible alternative was raised at the AI conference by Westinghouse Electric Company’s interim CEO Dan Summer.

The Pittsburgh-headquartered organization is leading a renewed interest in nuclear energy with plans to build a number of its AP 1000 reactors to help match energy needs and capabilities. 

Summer said that the company is partnering with Google, allowing them to leverage Google’s AI capabilities “with our nuclear operations to construct new nuclear here.” 

China vs. ‘heroes’

Underlying much of the AI activity: concerns with China’s work in this field

“With its vast resources, enormous capital, energy, workforce, the Chinese government is leveraging its resources to beat the United States in AI development,” said Nazak Nikakhtar, a national security and international trade attorney who chaired one of the panels Thursday. 

Speaking to EQT’s CEO Toby Rice and Groq executive Ian Andrews, Nikakhtar outlined some of the challenges she saw in U.S. development of AI technology compared to China. 

“We are attempting to leverage, now, our own resources, albeit in some respects much more limited vis-a-vis what China has, to accelerate AI leadership here in the United States and beat China,” she said. “But we’re somewhat constrained by the resources we have, by our population, by workforce, capital.”

Rice said in response that the natural resources his company is extracting will help power the country’s ability to compete with China. 

Rice drew a link between the 9/11 terror attacks 24 years earlier and the “urgency” of competing with China in AI.

“People are looking to take down American economies,” Rice said. “And we have heroes. Never forget. And I do believe that us winning this race against China in AI is going to be one of the most heroic things we’re going to do.”

Correction (9/12): The organizations protesting outside of the summit were misidentified in the original version of this story.

Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter and can be reached at ericj@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ericjankiewicz.

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AI-driven nuclear power revival among 5 takeaways from Pittsburgh summit

by Eric Jankiewicz, Pittsburgh's Public Source
September 11, 2025

<h1>AI-driven nuclear power revival among 5 takeaways from Pittsburgh summit</h1> <p class="byline">by Eric Jankiewicz, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />September 11, 2025</p> <p>The push for artificial intelligence-related investments in Western Pennsylvania continued Thursday with a second conference that brought together business leaders and elected officials.&nbsp;</p> <p>Not in attendance this time was President Donald Trump, who headlined <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/trump-mccormick-visit-cmu-energy-innovation-summit-pittsburgh/">a July 15 celebration of AI opportunity</a> at Carnegie Mellon University.</p> <p>This time Gov. Josh Shapiro, U.S. Sen. David McCormick and others converged in Bakery Square in Larimer to emphasize emerging public-private initiatives in anticipation of growing <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/ai-data-centers-pennsylvania-jobs/">data center development</a> and other artificial intelligence-related infrastructure including power plants.&nbsp;</p> <p>Here’s what speakers and attendees at the summit were saying.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ai-is-not-a-fad"><strong>AI is not a fad</strong></h2> <p>As regional leaders and business investors consider their options, BNY’s CEO Robin Vince cautioned against not taking AI seriously.</p> <p>“The way to get left behind in the next 10 years is to not care about AI,” Vince said</p> <p>“AI is transforming everything,” said Selin Song during Thursday’s event. As president of Google Customer Solutions, Song said that the company’s recent investment of $25 billion across the Pennsylvania-Jersey-Maryland grid will help give AI training access to the more than 1 million small businesses in the state.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-google-isn-t-the-only-game-in-town-nbsp"><strong>Google isn’t the only game in town</strong>&nbsp;</h2> <p>Shapiro noted that Amazon recently announced plans to spend at least $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and AI innovation campuses <a href="https://dced.pa.gov/newsroom/governor-josh-shapiro-announces-amazon-plans-to-invest-20-billion-in-pennsylvania-for-ai-infrastructure-in-largest-capital-investment-in-commonwealth-history/">across the state</a>.</p> <p>“This is a generational change,” Shapiro said, calling it the largest private sector investment in Pennsylvania’s history. “This is our next chapter in innovative growth. It all fits together. This new investment is beyond data center 1.0 that we saw in Virginia.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fracking-concerns-elevated"><strong>Fracking concerns elevated</strong></h2> <p>With all of the plans for new power-hungry data centers, some are concerned that the AI push will create more environmental destruction. Outside the summit, Protect PT and the Breathe Project cautioned that the interest in AI development is a “Trojan horse” for more natural gas fracking. Amid President Donald Trump’s attempts to dismantle wind and solar power, alternatives to natural gas appear limited.&nbsp;</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/IMG_8015-scaled.jpg" alt="People stand on a city sidewalk holding signs supporting renewable energy; one sign reads, &quot;RENEWABLE IS DO-ABLE.&quot; A man walks nearby checking his phone." class="wp-image-1323081" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">People gather in the Bakery Square area of Larimer Thursday, Sept. 11, to protest the nearby AI Horizons Summit. (Photo by Eric Jankiewicz/Pittsburgh's Public Source)</figcaption></figure> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nuclear-ready-for-its-moment"><strong>Nuclear ready for its moment</strong></h2> <p>But one possible alternative was raised at the AI conference by Westinghouse Electric Company’s interim CEO Dan Summer.</p> <p>The Pittsburgh-headquartered organization is leading a renewed interest in nuclear energy with plans to build a number of its <a href="https://westinghousenuclear.com/energy-systems/ap1000-pwr/overview">AP 1000 reactors</a> to help match energy needs and capabilities.&nbsp;</p> <p>Summer said that the company is partnering with Google, allowing them to leverage Google's AI capabilities “with our nuclear operations to construct new nuclear here.”&nbsp;</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-china-vs-heroes">China vs. 'heroes'</h2> <p>Underlying much of the AI activity: concerns with China’s work in this field</p> <p><strong>“</strong>With its vast resources, enormous capital, energy, workforce, the Chinese government is leveraging its resources to beat the United States in AI development,” said Nazak Nikakhtar, a national security and international trade attorney who chaired one of the panels Thursday.&nbsp;</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/IMG_8135-scaled.jpg" alt="Four men in business attire participate in a panel discussion on stage at the PA AI Horizons Conference, with one man speaking at a podium while the others listen." class="wp-image-1323088" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian, right, speaks at the AI Horizons Summit alongside Gov. Josh Shapiro, center, and other panelists. (Photo by Eric Jankiewicz/Pittsburgh's Public Source)</figcaption></figure> <p>Speaking to EQT’s CEO Toby Rice and Groq executive Ian Andrews, Nikakhtar outlined some of the challenges she saw in U.S. development of AI technology compared to China.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>“</strong>We are attempting to leverage, now, our own resources, albeit in some respects much more limited vis-a-vis what China has, to accelerate AI leadership here in the United States and beat China,” she said. “But we're somewhat constrained by the resources we have, by our population, by workforce, capital.”</p> <p>Rice said in response that the natural resources his company is extracting will help power the country’s ability to compete with China.&nbsp;</p> <p>Rice drew a link between the 9/11 terror attacks 24 years earlier and the “urgency” of competing with China in AI.</p> <p>“People are looking to take down American economies,” Rice said. “And we have heroes. Never forget. And I do believe that us winning this race against China in AI is going to be one of the most heroic things we’re going to do.”</p> <p><em>Correction (9/12): The organizations protesting outside of the summit were misidentified in the original version of this story.</em></p> <p><em>Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter and can be reached at </em><a href="mailto:ericj@publicsource.org"><em>ericj@publicsource.org</em></a><em> or on Twitter</em><a href="https://x.com/EricJankiewicz"><em> </em><em>@ericjankiewicz</em></a><em>.</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-ai-summit-key-takeaways/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh&#039;s Public Source&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=1323083&amp;amp;ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-ai-summit-key-takeaways/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/publicsource.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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