Pittsburgh 'uniquely positioned' to lead in physical AI, organizers of upcoming summit say

Pittsburgh will again find itself in the AI economy spotlight in September when it hosts the two-day AI Horizons summit in the East End’s Bakery Square.

The summit, in its second year, will focus this year on physical AI — in which artificial intelligence is integrated into physical systems like robots and autonomous vehicles, enabling them to interact with the real world.

Organizers of the summit say Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania, as a whole, is “uniquely positioned to lead” in the emerging physical AI sector.

“With deep industrial roots, top-tier research institutions and bipartisan leadership, we are positioned to become the physical AI capital of the world,” Joanna Doven, executive director of Pittsburgh’s AI Strike Team, said in a statement.

Doven’s group has brought together many of the region’s leaders in fields including tech, business, government and higher education. They want to help drive Pittsburgh’s growth in the AI sector.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat from Montgomery County, and U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican from Pittsburgh, will be among the summit’s featured guests. They are expected to talk about how bipartisan efforts are helping to drive development, according to organizers.

Both of them, along with President Donald Trump, participated earlier this month in the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University. There, officials announced plans for companies to invest more than $90 billion in data centers, energy and power infrastructure, and workforce and AI training projects across Pennsylvania. McCormick organized the event.

A day after that event, the Brookings Institution released a report ranking Pittsburgh No. 7 overall among 400 metro areas in terms of its readiness to become a key player in the growing AI economy. The report rated the city highly in AI talent and innovation, but said it had work to do when it came to local companies adopting AI in their operations.

The upcoming AI Horizons summit on Sept. 11-12 also will feature executives from companies including Gecko Robotics, Skild AI, Google, Ansys, Abridge, EOS, EQT and Bank of America, according to event organizers.