AI Horizons Pittsburgh: An Exploration of What's Possible

The inaugural AI Horizons Pittsburgh conference brought together state and city government, private sector giants and newcomers, nonprofits, and even the DoD. The organizers intrinsically new that if you build a longer table- people will come. This is endemic in the burgeoning tech hub that is no longer hiding in Western Pennsylvania. From research universities like CMU and the University of Pittsburgh, which draw emerging talent to the city, to tech giants like Nvidia, Hitachi, and Google building campuses here- exciting things are coming to Pittsburgh. A haven to tech start ups like The Orange Peel Collaborative, Pittsburgh also DoD AI operations and is both a top robotics research hub in the US and an industry leader in robotics globally as noted by the Asian Robotics Review: https://asianroboticsreview.com/home571-html

With all of that said, efforts like the AI Horizons Summit bring all of these pieces together. The city and state level government representatives were present to discuss infrastructure, energy, industry moves, and the role of the local universities. Governor Shapiro signed an MOU along with representatives from the universities and key corporate players, committing to Pittsburgh's future in the AI space. Governor Shapiro will also be signing into law legislation passed by the state's legislature criminalizing malicious use of AI generated porn or "deep fakes." It is the attention to the cultural ramifications of AI, the small and big players in the industry, and application of AI- not just commercial- that sets the area's approach to embracing its tech hub status apart from similar cities. Learn more about that legislation here: https://www.pennlive.com/news/2024/10/pa-legislature-passes-bill-criminalizing-malicious-use-of-ai-generated-porn.html

Pittsburgh's role in the AI boom like any other region in the world is going to be affected by energy production. The conference hosted a panel titled, "Empowering Pittsburgh: AI, Energy, and National Leadership in the Global Economy." The panelists were really frank about the relationship between power production and AI innovation. Staying competitive in the space requires access to increasing amounts of energy- and the balance of doing that green and economically is a delicate one. Morning Brew came out with a piece today detailing Big Tech's trend toward nuclear,

" In just the past month, Microsoft revived a reactor on the notorious Three Mile Island, while Google inked a deal to purchase power from small modular nuclear reactors. Today, Amazon announced that it signed an agreement with Virginia’s utility firm, Dominion Energy, to plan the construction of a nuclear reactor near Dominion’s already-existing nuclear power station in the state. Amazon Web Services will invest $500 million to build the new power plant."

The author goes on to explain this increased investment is because, "Powering the data centers that process machine learning technology that these firms are racing to produce takes huge amounts of power. And nuclear plants create more energy than other green options like solar and wind." Read more from the Morning Brew here: https://www.morningbrew.com/brew-markets/stories/2024/10/16/big-tech-ai-stock-nuclear-energy-microsoft-amazon-google Learning more about the many factors affecting the burgeoning AI industry and its impact on local regions reminds us that AI really does touch us all. Taking the time to learn advanced tech basics and the issues surrounding the industry makes all business more viable and gives leaders and entrepreneurs the ability to navigate sometimes tough, but vital conversations.