Steel City Forum

2025 Energy and Innovation Summit set for Pittsburgh next week

The 2025 Energy and Innovation Summit is set to take place in Pittsburgh next week, on July 15. Primarily a government spearheaded forum, the event conveys the city's burgeoning relationship with investors, but brings along significant political baggage.

“Pittsburgh is now at the forefront of a new innovation economy, with a strong foundation already in place for new technology in fields ranging from energy to life sciences to robotics and artificial intelligence,” said Donald F. Smith, Jr., President of the Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC), in a statement today.

The Energy and Innovation Summit, convened by Senator McCormick, will feature President Trump and will bring together the world’s top leaders in energy and AI, alongside the biggest global investors, labor and trades leaders, and government officials, to showcase Pennsylvania’s incredible potential to power the AI revolution.

“What visitors will find is a region that is fueling the growth of innovation-based industries, with Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and others spearheading an entrepreneurial mindset and creating not only new technologies but the entrepreneurs and workforce to commercialize them.

RIDC primarily reconfigures and redevelops old, often neglected industrial sites to create homes for job creating businesses in the region. With 8,500 people supported by companies in its nearly 8 million square foot portfolio of buildings, it is self-described as "a leading policy advocate for pro-growth policies, particularly focused on innovation industries."

Carnegie-Mellon, one of the best universities in the nation, is well aware of the incoming controversy associated with hosting the U.S. President. "As announced by U.S. Senator David McCormick and reported in the media, President Donald Trump is expected to attend a national Energy and Innovation Summit hosted on the CMU campus on Tuesday, July 15," Farnam Jahanian, Carnegie-Mellon's President, said in a statement back on June 13. "This Summit, convened by Sen. McCormick, will bring together leaders from government, industry and academia for a day of conversations on technology, innovation and national strategy. Given the high-profile participants already identified, the event is likely to draw national attention and planning is underway accordingly."

This hasn't stopped backlash from students, who have already protested the event as it approaches.