Trump Hosts AI and Energy Summit as US Races China in Technology
President Donald Trump met with leaders from major US tech and energy companies in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to discuss accelerating the country’s growth in artificial intelligence (AI). The summit, held at Carnegie Mellon University, comes as the US competes with China in a growing technological race.
AI and Energy Investments Highlighted
Trump, joined by US Senator Dave McCormick, announced around $90 billion in AI and energy investments within Pennsylvania. Companies like Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Exxon Mobil participated in the discussions, focusing on positioning the US as a global AI leader.
“This is a really triumphant day for the people of the Commonwealth and for the United States of America,” Trump said, emphasising the scale of innovation underway.
To power the AI boom, Big Tech firms are securing large amounts of electricity for the energy-heavy data centres needed. Google revealed a $3 billion deal for US hydropower, securing 3 gigawatts from two Pennsylvania facilities in a 20-year agreement with Brookfield Asset Management. Separately, CoreWeave announced a $6 billion AI data centre.
Blackstone, one of the world’s largest asset managers, also committed $25 billion for data centres and energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania, further boosting the state’s role in AI development.
Industry Leaders Join High-Level Talks
Top executives attended the summit, including Khaldoon Al-Mubarak of Mubadala, Rene Haas of Arm, Larry Fink of BlackRock, Darren Woods of Exxon Mobil, Brendan Bechtel of Bechtel, and Dario Amodei of AI firm Anthropic. Together, they discussed how to address the rising power demands of AI growth.
Demand for electricity in the US has reached record highs this year, driven by the rapid expansion of AI and cloud computing centres. To address energy needs, tech firms are even considering reactivating facilities like the Three Mile Island nuclear plant.
White House Plans Regulatory Changes to Support AI Expansion
The White House is preparing new actions to help AI projects move forward. Possible measures include making it easier for power-generation projects to connect to the grid and offering federal land for new data centres.
Officials are also looking at creating a nationwide Clean Water Act permit to simplify construction approvals, replacing the current state-by-state process.
Earlier this year, Trump directed his administration to prepare an AI Action Plan aimed at making the US “the world capital in artificial intelligence.” That plan is due by July 23 and will be presented during Trump’s upcoming “Winning the AI Race” event.
The growing demand for power has raised concerns about potential electricity shortages, higher energy bills, and risks of blackouts. However, leaders see rapid infrastructure expansion as key to maintaining the US lead in AI over countries like China.
with inputs from Reuters