President Trump, along with leaders from major technology and energy companies, announced more than $90 billion in new private investments for Pennsylvania during a summit focused on energy and innovation, CBS News reports. The event took place at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where Trump spoke for about 30 minutes in a roundtable discussion. He described the investments as the largest in the state's history, aimed at developing a new economy based on artificial intelligence (AI).
Key projects include building data centers for AI, and an energy innovation center to train workers for jobs in energy and artificial intelligence fields. The investments could create tens of thousands of jobs.
Trump praised Pennsylvania-based Westinghouse for plans to build 10 nuclear reactors nationwide. He also mentioned a $14 billion deal between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel to revive local manufacturing areas.
Building a stronger future
Trump expressed optimism about the future. Organizers hope this marks the start of more growth, with plans to increase energy output, construct additional data centers, and start new AI companies in the region, positioning Pittsburgh as a national hub for this technology. This follows Amazon's earlier $20 billion commitment to data centers in the state, seen as its biggest economic project ever.
Several Trump administration officials attended, including the secretaries of commerce, interior, energy, and treasury, as well as the White House advisor on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro joined a panel on investments, showing bipartisan interest. Industry figures from companies like Alphabet, Anthropic, Blackstone, and Amazon Web Services participated in discussions. While the summit drew praise for economic potential, some protesters outside expressed concerns over reliance on fossil fuels and ethical issues in AI. Overall, the announcements aim to strengthen U.S. competitiveness, especially against countries like China, by ensuring reliable energy for advancing artificial intelligence technologies.