Shapiro, McCormick unite on energy, AI investment in Pennsylvania
PITTSBURGH — Despite being on opposite sides of the aisle, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick and Gov. Josh Shapiro agree that investments into energy and artificial intelligence will be a defining characteristic of Pennsylvania’s future.
The two met at the Pennsylvania Energy & Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University on Tuesday, July 15. They participated in one of the event’s four panels, “Investing Big in Pennsylvania: A Case Study,” alongside Matt Garman, chief executive officer of Amazon Web Services.
The panel was moderated by Neeli Bendapudi, president of Penn State.
Conversation started with discussing Amazon Web Services’ previously announced plans to invest $20 billion into the state as part of a movement to build data center infrastructure to support artificial intelligence and cloud computing technologies.
“(Artificial intelligence) needs a lot of power and a lot of data centers to make that realization happen,” Garman said. “So, we went out there and we said we need to go place large investments so we looked for places where that investment was possible and Pennsylvania rose to the challenge.
Garman highlighted good infrastructure, talent and bipartisanship on a state level as some of the key points that led to the investment.
Before Shapiro spoke during the panel, he took a moment to thank McCormick for his willingness to work with himself and Democrats in Pennsylvania.
“I appreciate the partnership we have, not just on this, but on so many other things,” Shapiro said. “I really respect what you’re trying to do and appreciate how well our teams work together to accomplish these goals.”
Shapiro said Pennsylvania is “on the rise” thanks to Pennsylvania being a net energy exporter; a unique makeup of the workforce; and collaboration between the state government, the private sector and education on matters of moving innovation forward.
“We, in Pennsylvania, have been dealt a hand of cards that are uniquely oriented toward the moment,” McCormick added. “In other words, the incredible workforce that (Shapiro) refers to, both very technical... but also the skilled labor that is uniquely important in this moment.”
McCormick highlighted the importance of moving quickly when it comes to energy and artificial intelligence development and said that having government at all levels looking to help, not hurt, those investments is necessary.
“This is the kind of thing where we have to have enormous urgency on it because a good bit of the game is going to be played in the next 24 to 36 months,” McCormick said.
“This is a global race for both energy dominance and AI dominance, and we need homegrown Pennsylvanians to be doing this work, and we need investments from all across the country and all across the world,” Shapiro added.
Shapiro said that while he disagrees with McCormick and Republicans on most matters, when it comes to creating jobs and investing in the state’s economy, they are on the same page.
“We do not want China beating us in this AI race,” Shapiro said.
