Trump embraces AI

PRESIDENT TRUMP and Congress are moving this week to address the burgeoning artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency industries, as Washington sets its sights on a next generation of technologies with the potential to dramatically reshape society.

Trump on Tuesday traveled to Pittsburgh for the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit arranged by Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.).

The summit at Carnegie Mellon University drew dozens of CEOs and politicians from both sides of the aisle, including Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), a potential 2028 presidential contender.

Trump and McCormick are expected to unveil $70 billion in AI investments.

“We have tremendous investments being made, literally trillions of dollars of investment being made in our country on artificial intelligence,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One en route to Pittsburgh. “The word artificial is a good word. That's what they've chosen.”

Axios reports that McCormick will tout the "largest investment commitment in these industries in terms of dollars for the state and jobs created in the history of the Commonwealth.”

"Anticipated investments include new data centers, new power generation and grid infrastructure to meet surging data center demand, along with AI training programs and apprenticeships for businesses,” McCormick will say, according to prepared remarks.

Blackstone president Jon Gray announced a $25 billion investment in a data-center and energy infrastructure, which could lead to thousands of permanent jobs in the state.

Leaders from ExxonMobil, Chevron, Amazon and other major companies were also expected to attend.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced that Elon Musk’s company xAI scored a contract for up to $200 million with the Department of Defense.

Musk has been promoting a third political party amid his feud with Trump, who has threatened to go after the billionaire’s government subsidies and contracts.

Trump's AI czar David Sacks urged Musk to drop the third-party push.

"I hope that one day there will be a reconciliation," he said on CNBC. "I do believe that Elon’s objectives politically can be achieved and can best be achieved through the Republican Party and I hope to convince him of that one day."

“Crypto Week” on Capitol Hill is off to a rough start after 12 hardline House Republicans tanked a procedural vote over concerns with cryptocurrency legislation the chamber is preparing to consider.

Congress was poised to take up several landmark cryptocurrency bills creating a framework to govern digital assets, but the conservative revolt has brought things to a standstill.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the conservative hardliners want to link the crypto bills into one product.

The Hill's Mychael Schnell explains the current bifurcation:

"The House this week is scheduled to vote on the GENIUS Act; negotiated by the Senate, which would create a regulatory framework for stablecoins; the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, which would lay out regulations for the broader cryptocurrency market; and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which would prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a Central Bank digital currency."

The price of Bitcoin surged past $120,000 to new highs Monday, with the expectation that Congress would further legitimize it as a mainstream asset.

Politico reports that a super PAC funded by crypto companies has more than $140 million on hand ahead of the 2026 midterm elections to boost pro-crypto candidates — and attack those who don’t support their agenda.

Inflation rose by 2.7 percent in June, the second second consecutive month to see a rise in the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index.

Economists fear Trump’s tariffs will drive inflation higher throughout the summer, with a raft of new tariffs slated to take hold on Aug. 1.

“And so it begins?” UBS economist Paul Donovan wrote in an analysis Tuesday.

“Only half the expected trade tax rise has hit the economy so far. Inventory stockpiling means pre-tax items are still available. How readily US firms can pass on price increases matters,” he added.

The Federal Reserve’s target for inflation is 2 percent.

Trump dismissed the latest data, which was in line with expectations, calling it “very much inside the margin.”

The Hill's Tobias Burns has five things to know about the latest inflation report.

MEANWHILE...

Trump on Tuesday said he struck a trade deal with Indonesia and would be lowering their tariff rate to 19 percent, down from 32 percent.

“We have full access to Indonesia, everything,” Trump said. “As you know, Indonesia is very strong on copper, but we have all full access to everything, we will pay no tariffs, so they are giving us access into Indonesia, which we’ve ever had.”