Blog

Where & When

The AI Horizons Summit 2025 took place September 11-12 at Bakery Square in Pittsburgh, an increasingly prominent innovation / tech hub.
The event draws together a broad cross-section of academia (especially Carnegie Mellon University), government, business (both tech startups and “legacy industrial” firms), energy players, and public policy.

Why Bakery Square Matters

Bakery Square, located on Penn Avenue near the border between East Liberty and Larimer, is now more than just a mixed-use commercial space. It’s become a locus for AI conversations. The summit being held there signals a few things:

It’s a symbolic anchor: Google has offices there, CMU is heavily involved, so having a major AI summit at Bakery Square underlines the region’s identity as an AI innovation center.
It’s a site for public-private overlap: laboratories, accelerators, corporate, academic, and government efforts are intersecting there. The venue furthers that narrative of leveraging local capacity.
It roots AI in Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods: Having it in Bakery Square (Larimer/East Liberty area) makes the abstract “AI economy” more tangible locally. It connects high tech to the urban geography, giving visibility and perhaps opportunity to communities nearby.

Key Announcements & Themes from the Summit

Responsible AI & Workforce Tools
- Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that Pennsylvania is expanding access for qualified state employees to advanced generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT Enterprise, Microsoft Copilot Chat) building on a pilot program.
- There is emphasis on training, governance, labor management collaboration, ensuring AI is used ethically, transparently, with protections.
New Partnerships & Lab Establishments
- A major new five-year, $10 million partnership between BNY Mellon and Carnegie Mellon University to create the BNY AI Lab at CMU's School of Computer Science. The focus is on governance, trust, and accountability in mission-critical AI.
- Google launched its AI Accelerator for small businesses in Pennsylvania: free tools, training workshops, etc., to help entrepreneurs use AI.
“Physical AI” & Real-World Deployment
- Much of the conversation was about not just what AI can do in labs, but what it's doing in robotics, autonomy, manufacturing, defense, healthcare, etc.
- CMU featured robots, demos, discussions of physical systems (robotics, autonomous mobility) and how AI and biomanufacturing intersect.
Infrastructure, Energy, and Environment
- With AI growth comes demand for data centers, massive compute, power, etc. Summit speakers discussed the energy burden and need for clean, resilient energy sources.
- A revival of interest in nuclear energy was raised, particularly by Westinghouse. It’s being considered as part of the solution to help meet AI’s power needs without over-reliance on fossil fuel.
- Environmental concerns: groups raised warnings about possible unintended effects: natural gas use, water/energy consumption, etc.
Competition, Strategy & Global Context
- The U.S. and Pennsylvania are positioning themselves in competition not just domestically but globally (China, etc.) for AI leadership.
- Amazon’s plans: one announcement includes Amazon investing about $20 billion to build out AI / cloud innovation campuses across Pennsylvania.
- Discussion of “next chapter” in economic growth: AI as central part of the strategy, tied to labor, education, infrastructure.

Gov. Shapiro & Small Businesses

While much of the spotlight is on large-scale infrastructure, robotics, and labs, there’s also emphasis on how small business owners in PA are being brought into the AI fold:

Google, in collaboration with PA, is offering the AI Accelerator for small businesses. Free workshops, online courses ("Prompting Essentials", etc.), Google AI Coach, etc.
Shapiro met with small business owners at the Google AI workshop tied into the summit. The framing is: these tools aren’t just for big corporations or universities; they’re meant to improve operations, lower barriers, make AI more accessible.

Why This Matters

Pittsburgh is doubling down on its role as a national hub for AI - not just in research, but in deployment, policy, workforce. Bakery Square has become a physical marker of that shift.
The state’s strategy appears comprehensive: infrastructure, workforce training, government tools, public-private labs, small business inclusion.