Harris passed on Shapiro for VP. You can still catch him this fall at a Pittsburgh AI Summit

Pittsburgh is doubling down on AI with a new conference this fall, and the lineup features some notable speakers — including one of the week’s hottest names.

While it’s been reported that presumed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro remained in contention until seemingly recently. The campaign will hold a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Thanks to that spotlight, Shapiro’s upcoming Pittsburgh event garnered a lot of attention last week. The former attorney general will speak at the inaugural AI Horizons Summit as he continues to push for local and statewide tech initiatives under his administration.

Set to take place on Monday, Oct. 14, in Bakery Square — just three weeks before the election — the summit will focus on the development of human-first AI to benefit society, not just profit margins. 

Shapiro’s segment will cover his administration’s efforts to build the AI workforce in Pennsylvania. Seasoned tech journalist Laurie Segall, known for landmark tech interviews with leaders like Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook, will moderate the opening remarks. 

Attendees will also hear from the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Google and more. 

Another featured speaker is Bruce Katz. The cofounder of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University has recently been meeting with Pittsburgh leaders to help plan future development around AI companies.

“This action-forcing event aligns perfectly with Governor Shapiro’s 10-year economic development plan that points to AI as a top industry to lead,” Katz said, “ensuring Pennsylvania competes on the global stage.”

Shapiro, 51, has served in government since being elected to the Pennsylvania House in 2004. After three terms in Harrisburg, he was elected in 2012 to the Montgomery County Commissioners. In 2016, he ran for state attorney general and won.

Several actions during his tenure as attorney general and governor, including taking on the opioid manufacturers and overseeing a grand jury report into Catholic church child abuse, raised his profile nationally. It shined brighter when he oversaw a fix for the collapsed I-95 stretch, bringing car traffic back to the Northeast Philadelphia highway in just two weeks.

The push to make AI Avenue pop

Developer Walnut Street Capital began pushing for what’s become known as “AI Avenue” in Bakery Square in May. 

Locals know the big Google logo looming over the office park, but several AI companies — Pearl Street Technologies, Netail, Lovelace AI and Strategy Robot — took up office space earlier this year. 

Plans call for the corridor to have a fancy new entrance near Trader Joe’s. The development proposals have hit some setbacks in gaining all the necessary regulatory approvals, so the timeline isn’t yet clear.

The October summit will feature at least one member of AI Ave: Lovelace, an early-stage startup that applies AI tools to human safety efforts like national security and disaster relief. 

It’s one of several recent local artificial intelligence startup successes. So far this year, Skild AI has become a unicorn, boosting its valuation to $1.5 billion after a $400 million raise. Abridge recommitted to its Pittsburgh roots after raking in a $150 million investment.  

Still, in some areas, there have been bumps in the road. Autonomous vehicle startup Aurora laid off staff in January, then more recently canceled an investor call to instead announce a $420 million proposed public offering. Motional, another autonomous vehicle company, laid off 550 employees across offices in Pittsburgh and California, too.  

Plus, some government agencies are wary about this emerging frontier. Neither Pittsburgh nor Allegheny County have strong guidelines for how to implement the tech, creating a mismatched patchwork of implementation.

Across his two years as governor, however, Shapiro has scored several tech wins. 

A $40 million investment in the commonwealth’s economy leaned on robotics and technology, agriculture, energy, life sciences and manufacturing for future gains. It includes a $10 million investment in the Agriculture Innovation Program and $3.5 million for the Pennsylvania Regional Challenge, an initiative to incentivize regional planning and collaboration.

Vice President Harris has also built quite a reputation in tech. The current administration can count some consequential economic accomplishments, including a trio of spending bills like the CHIPS and Science Act. That act authorized the EDA Tech Hubs program, which last month awarded $500 million to a dozen US regions to invest in advanced technologies.