SEN McCORMICK: Pennsylvania led America’s industrial rise — now it will lead the AI revolution

Today, something big and unprecedented is happening in Pittsburgh. The inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation summit at Carnegie Mellon University is the clearest and most dramatic manifestation yet of President Donald Trump’s promises to make America energy dominant, lead in advanced technology, and create jobs and opportunity for working families in Pennsylvania and across America.

In 2017, Mr. Trump said he was "elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris." Today in the Steel City, I am proud to welcome the President and more than 60 CEOs of the world’s most important companies and largest investors to my hometown to announce over $50 billion in new investments in energy, artificial intelligence (AI), and workforce development all targeted at making sure Pennsylvania powers the AI revolution. Despite the crucial link between AI and energy, never before have the leaders of the most important AI companies, energy producers, and investors all gathered with the President in a place ready to lead the nation’s technological future. To paraphrase one writer, not since the days of Andrew Carnegie has so much economic power gathered in one Pittsburgh room.

These investments are of enormous consequence to Pennsylvania, but they are also crucial to the future of the nation. The stakes could not be higher: the AI revolution has the potential to transform our nation’s economic outlook and national security, but if the United States does not lead this revolution on our own terms, we will hand control of our infrastructure, our data, our leadership, and our way of life to Communist China.

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Pennsylvania is spearheading the charge for American energy and AI dominance. Here’s why.

First, we are blessed with an abundant and diverse mix of energy and natural resources, including one of the world’s largest natural gas reserves, abundant fresh water, and an incredible installed base of nuclear power. These resources can meet the booming demand for electricity to power AI data centers.

Next, Pennsylvania is brimming with talent to meet the needs of the AI Revolution. Our economy brings together construction workers, steamfitters, machinists, and countless other trades necessary to build data center infrastructure along with world-class universities and research labs like our host CMU producing the next generation of engineers and scientists.

Finally, the Commonwealth is already demonstrating the innovation and grit required to lead this revolution. In the past decade, Pittsburgh alone has incubated eight unicorns, and the generation-defining $14 billion investment President Trump secured for U.S. Steel will keep Pittsburgh a center for advanced manufacturing for decades to come. More is on the horizon, with an effort to build a new LNG export terminal along the Delaware River and innovative companies like Eos Energy Enterprises manufacturing zinc-powered energy storage in the Mon Valley.

All of these advantages are located within 500 miles of nearly half the U.S. population. Pennsylvania is not only the most important swing state in American politics, but also an economic and industrial juggernaut.

But our success depends on how we leverage these assets. The future will not build itself.

At the Summit, companies, investors, and labor leaders will make a mutual commitment to build in Pennsylvania. We need to build more turbines, nuclear powerplants, and transmission lines to power the chips training AI models. We need to build an even stronger workforce of skilled workers to build this infrastructure through vocational training and apprenticeships. And we need to build a world-class education system, from K-12 to higher ed, to prepare the next generation for the AI-powered jobs of the future.

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No special handouts or industrial policy conceived in Washington were in play for today's announcements, The Keystone State’s own assets are the reason behind these investments, which we saw last month with Amazon’s $20 billion commitment to build AI data centers in Pennsylvania. Jobs and economic growth have no party affiliation. I will work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, who shares my commitment to put Pennsylvanians at the center of the energy and AI revolutions.

None of this would be possible without the sea change in policy brought about by President Trump: energy dominance, support for workers, an embrace of foreign investment in the United States, and an absolute commitment to rebuilding America’s industrial capacity and securing long-term AI leadership. That agenda has galvanized private capital and is unleashing a new wave of industrial development and job creation across America.

The long road of American industry and innovation has always run through the Keystone State. Pennsylvania is the place where America drilled its first commercial oil well, built the Arsenal of Democracy with Monongahela steel, and fueled an energy revolution in the Marcellus Shale. The Commonwealth can once again lead the charge. The investments announced in Pittsburgh today are a crucial step in that direction. Now let’s get to work.