At Pittsburgh summit, Shapiro highlights AI potential for the state

Pennsylvania is well-positioned to lead innovation in artificial intelligence, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Tuesday during a global summit at the University of Pittsburgh.

“Pittsburgh is now a hub of AI activity,” Shapiro said. “We are proud to play a role, an important role, in this revolution as well as in government, in business, in academia, in health care. We cannot afford to fall behind and let others capitalize on this AI opportunity.”

The two-day Global Innovation Summit, held at Pitt’s Alumni Hall, featured speakers from Pitt, Carnegie Mellon University, Ohio State, the University of Nebraska, the University of South Carolina and the Council on Competitiveness, an American nonprofit that works to increase high-value economic activity in the United States.

Pitt leaders also discussed BioForge, a $250 million manufacturing facility in Hazelwood Green.

The summit also comes on the heels of Pitt starting a fully online undergraduate degree next year in health informatics, data science and AI.

Shapiro, the keynote speaker, said the state is “uniquely positioned in all fields” to be able to create jobs in the AI environment. Collaboration and buy-in among industries and institutions like CMU and Pitt can grow that even more, he said.

“Our world is getting bigger because of AI, because of great institutions like Pitt and CMU that allow that technology to reach even further,” Shapiro said. “AI has a lot of power and potential to help our researchers, doctors, healthcare providers get answers to Pennsylvanians a whole lot quicker and easier.”

The United States must succeed at AI innovation, Shapiro said.

“There are only two options: for China to build out the infrastructure and surpass us, or for America to build out the infrastructure and lead,” he said.

Pennsylvania can lead those efforts in the country, Shapiro said. The state is the second largest energy exporter in the United States and is investing in workforce development. Pennsylvania also reformed its permitting processes to speed up government and eliminate backlogs, he said.

“We are investing in vo-tech apprenticeships and workforce training to ensure that there is a strong pipeline of Pennsylvanians with the skills needed to construct AI data centers and then work in them when they are finally set up,” Shapiro said.

Amazon announced over the summer plans to spend $20 billion to build two data centers in Bucks and Luzerne counties — the largest private sector investment in the state’s history, Shapiro said.

“It’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Shapiro said. “There is more that’s going to be coming online, especially here in southwestern Pennsylvania. Together with those companies, we are laying the foundation for AI infrastructure that’s going to enable the important applications of AI technology.”