(TNS) — When Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was in the fifth grade, he had to choose between writing a book report on Jonas Salk or Benjamin Franklin.
He went with Mr. Salk, the celebrated virologist and researcher who developed the polio vaccine at the University of Pittsburgh. While he’s proud that he’s “come full circle” and now serves in the same role that the Founder Mr. Franklin once held, the governor says the school assignment gave him “a little expertise” on Mr. Salk and Pittsburgh’s legacy of innovation in health and technology.
“Jonas Salk isn’t where it stopped here at the University of Pittsburgh,” he told invited academics and business leaders in a keynote speech at Pitt on Tuesday during a global summit on the intersection of health, artificial intelligence and tech.
From pioneering work on brain-computer interfaces that enabled a paralyzed patient to use a robotic arm for the first time, to the use of AI and AI models to study DNA and deliver faster diagnoses, doctors and researchers are “using every single tool at their disposal to keep their fellow Pennsylvanians healthy,” the governor said.
As he did in previous AI summits in Pittsburgh and when he announced a historic $20 billion investment in AI infrastructure by Amazon in June, Mr. Shapiro said Pennsylvania is already taking a leading role in the country and around the world when it comes to AI and fostering collaborations between academia, industry and government.
“Our world is getting bigger because of AI and great institutions like Pitt and [Carnegie Mellon University] that allow the technology to reach even further,” he said. “I think AI has a lot of power and potential to help our researchers, doctors and health care providers get answers to Pennsylvanians a whole lot quicker and easier. It’s going to take more innovation and collaboration.
“We are all in,” Mr. Shapiro continued. “I believe we are leading the way on this.”
He cited not only institutions like Pitt and CMU, which co-hosted the summit along with the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils, but Pennsylvania being one of the country’s top energy producers and exporters, and one of the only states with a growing economy, as some of the “unique set of strengths” enabling the Keystone State to lead globally in a number of fields tied a growing AI market.
The governor compared the advancement of AI to revolutions in agriculture and industry that have deep ties to Pennsylvania.
He emphasized that the U.S. must capitalize on its strengths in technology, education and health — and quickly. He noted that his administration has sought to streamline a “broken” permitting process to cut down wait times and address a backlog to help the state move “at the speed of business.”
“Let me be very clear: our country must succeed at this,” said Mr. Shapiro, who is up for re-election in 2026 and has often been named as a potential 2028 White House contender. “There are only two options … China to build out the infrastructure and surpass us, or for America to build out the infrastructure and lead. I am not going to take a back seat to China. No one in America should want that.”
Pennsylvania’s status as the country’s second-biggest net energy exporter — at a time when several neighboring states must import energy to keep the lights on — means the state can “produce enough power to support the energy-intensive supercomputers and server farms that AI data centers require,” he said.
The state can power AI infrastructure development “while still being able to deliver reliable, affordable, plentiful energy for small businesses and our homes,” Mr. Shapiro added.
The state also aims to convert shuttered coal-fired power plants to natural gas plants to generate another five gigawatts for the grid, while also getting Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station restarted as part of a plan to power Microsoft AI data centers.
The governor also noted the state has trained more than 35,000 in fields like welding, electrical engineering, heavy construction and more to bolster the workforce needed for the burgeoning AI industry.
“Together … we are laying the foundation for AI infrastructure that’s going to enable important applications of AI technology, especially when it comes to health care,” he said.
The governor thanked Farnam Jahanian, the president of CMU, where researchers are already using AI to “combat the rise of antimicrobial resistance, targeting the most difficult diseases and bacteria.”
He also credited Chancellor Joan Gabel of Pitt, where health care experts “are using AI to make progress on personalized medicine, tailoring treatments to individual unique genetics and experiences.”
“This technology is going to be a game changer,” he said. “We are just at the beginning of this revolution, and Pennsylvania is poised to take advantage of it.”
Mr. Jahanian said he and Mr. Shapiro had had “frequent conversations” about how rapid innovations in science and technology are “dramatically altering today’s society and impacting every sector of our economy.”
“Like many of you in this room, the governor is focused on capturing this once-in-a-generation opportunity to carve out a distinctive leadership role for our state as the frontier for innovation, job creation, education and economic mobility,” Mr. Jahanian said.
During a panel Tuesday, Meredith Meyer Grelli, who directs Project Olympus, part of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship at CMU, said Pittsburgh-area leaders could do a better job getting out the message on the region’s strengths in entrepreneurship and innovation.
“We do a great job talking to ourselves about what we’re doing,” she said. “We certainly do not have a single-minded message that we take out to the world.”
She drew laughter and applause highlighting Pittsburgh’s recently unveiled Walk of Fame, which included Andrew Carnegie and Mr. Salk.
“Of course they should be on Pittsburgh’s Walk of Fame,” she said. “They’re also dead. Could we put an entrepreneur or an innovator who’s actually alive, who could come to the Walk of Fame and walk on the Walk of Fame?”
For Mr. Shapiro — and for Republican Sen. Dave McCormick and several business and academic leaders — leading in AI and drawing heavy investment has helped send a message that the state is open for business.
In July, Mr. McCormick and Mr. Shapiro showcased Pennsylvania in an artificial intelligence and energy summit at CMU, where President Donald Trump later announced more than $90 billion in investment by 20 companies in AI and energy infrastructure across the state.
Mr. Shapiro on Tuesday said that his administration’s economic development strategy aims to “supercharge” the state’s $50 billion life sciences industry while relying on new technologies such as AI.
As a number of biotech firms grow across the region, the state’s colleges and universities combine to rank fourth in life sciences research and development spending, he said.
“I think it’s time to take those strengths, connect the dots between them, and lean in,” Mr. Shapiro said. “Universities, private sector, and many others, all working together. Pennsylvania is on the rise … now is our moment to seize this opportunity, to take advantage of this unique technology, to take advantage of the incredible research … to do good for people, create jobs, create economic opportunity, to save lives.”
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