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The National
19 minutes ago
- The National
Energy and AI summit: Trump to attend Pennsylvania event focused on future of the technology
US President Donald Trump will make a push for his vision on powering increasingly energy-hungry artificial intelligence infrastructure during the first Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit on Tuesday. The event, spearheaded by Republican US Senator Dave McCormick, is taking place in Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University. 'This summit is about catalysing $90 billion of investment and tens of thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania,' Mr McCormick said in his opening remarks. He also referenced the increasingly adversarial relationship between the US and China as he set the stage for the day's agenda. 'If we don't lead this AI revolution on our own terms, we will hand control of our infrastructure, data, leadership and way of life to the Chinese Communist Party,' he said. With AI continuing to expand into all aspects of life, the burden it places on the US energy grid is becoming more of an issue, as policymakers try to keep America in the lead amid a global race for AI dominance. According to a report from the US Energy Department, data centres consumed about 4.4 per cent of total electricity in the country in 2024. By 2028, that share could increase to 12 per cent. By most estimates, a simple query to ChatGPT uses 10 times more energy than a similar search on Google. The event has featured several panels and discussions on energy and AI, including how to best meet the energy needs created by the technology, and looking at the potential efficiencies that AI would create in the years ahead. There were also discussions about the need for data centres to keep up with the AI investment boom and increased user demand. During the opening panel discussion, alternative asset management firm Blackstone made a $25 billion investment in building data centres in Pennsylvania. Investors, entrepreneurs and business leaders from around the world are attending the event. Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Mubadala's managing director and chief executive and chairman of the UAE Executive Affairs Authority, made the trip to Pittsburgh. Lim Chow Kiat, chief executive of Singapore's GIC, was also invited. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright were among the White House officials in attendance. Alex Karp, chief executive of AI firm Palantir, Joseph Dominguez, Constellation Energy chief and Jake Loosararian, founder of Gecko Robotics, also took part. Mr Trump is scheduled to participate in a round-table discussion about AI later in the day. As proof of how bipartisan AI and energy issues have become, Pennsylvania's Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, a staunch critic of Mr Trump and a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential race, is scheduled to be in attendance. When it comes to coal, fracking and even nuclear power, Mr Shapiro's state has become ground zero for the US energy renaissance. A few weeks ago, Mr Shapiro attended a nuclear energy rally to celebrate a partnership with Microsoft at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the state, which will soon reopen under a different name. Nuclear energy is seen by many supporters of AI as a way to bolster the energy grid as use of the technology expands. Despite its bipartisan nature, critics fear the content of the event will take a back seat to politics. A day before the event, Carnegie Mellon University's president acknowledged the politically charged backdrop against which the conference was taking place. 'I recognise that CMU's decision to host the summit has prompted concern and disagreement among some members of our community,' Farnam Jahanian said, pointing out his own disagreements with Mr Trump on a number of issues concerning education funding. 'At the same time, I firmly believe that higher education must be a convener – a catalyst for ideas and partnerships that shape our future.' On Tuesday, he spoke about why he felt CMU, with its roots in technology, was the perfect host for the summit, describing it as a 'defining moment for our country and humanity' and referring to AI as 'the most important intellectual development of our time'.
Zawya
4 hours ago
- Zawya
JPMorgan CEO Dimon says Fed independence 'absolutely critical'
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said on Tuesday the independence of the Federal Reserve is "absolutely critical". "The President said he's not going to try to remove Jay Powell," Dimon told reporters in a conference call. "The independence of the Fed is absolutely critical, and not just for the current Fed chairman, who I respect, but for the next Fed chairman." "Playing around with the Fed can often have adverse consequences, absolutely opposite of what you might be hoping for," he said. The comments come at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has ramped up attacks on Fed Chair Jerome Powell. (Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
Khaleej Times
6 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Chinese firms rush to buy Nvidia AI chips as sales set to resume
Chinese firms are scrambling to buy Nvidia's H20 artificial intelligence chips, two sources told Reuters, as the company said it planned to resume sales to the mainland days after its CEO met U.S. President Donald Trump. Nvidia's AI chips have been a key focus of U.S. export controls designed to keep the most advanced chips out of Chinese hands over national security concerns. The U.S.-listed company has said the curbs would cut its revenue by $15 billion. The world's most valuable firm is filing applications with the U.S. government to resume sales to China of the H20 graphics processing unit (GPU), and expects to get the licences soon, Nvidia said in a statement. "The U.S. government has assured Nvidia that licences will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon," said the company, whose chief executive, Jensen Huang, is visiting Beijing and set to speak at an event on Wednesday. The White House, which has previously expressed concern that the Chinese military could use AI chips to develop weapons, did not respond to a request for comment. Chinese companies have scrambled to place orders for the chips, which Nvidia would then need to send to the U.S. government for approval, the sources familiar with the matter said. They added that internet giants ByteDance and Tencent are in the process of submitting applications. Central to the process is a "whitelist" put together by Nvidia for Chinese companies to register for potential purchases, one of the sources said. ByteDance and Tencent did not respond to a request for comment. Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment regarding the "whitelist". Nvidia, which has criticised the export curbs the Trump administration imposed in April that stopped it from selling its H20 chip in China, also said it has introduced a new model tailored to meet regulatory rules in the Chinese market. Huang is set fpr a media briefing in Beijing on Wednesday when he attends a supply chain expo. The Nvidia CEO also visited China in April and stressed the importance of the Chinese market. "The Chinese market is massive, dynamic, and highly innovative, and it's also home to many AI researchers," Huang told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday. "Therefore, it is indeed crucial for American companies to establish roots in the Chinese market." Nvidia's Frankfurt-listed shares jumped 3.2%. Asked at a regular foreign ministry briefing in Beijing about Nvidia's plans to resume AI chip sales, a spokesperson said, "China is opposed to the politicisation, instrumentalisation and weaponisation of science, technology and economic and trade issues to maliciously blockade and suppress China." Nvidia has faced increased competition from Chinese tech giant Huawei and other makers of GPUs - the chips used to train artificial intelligence. But Chinese companies, including big tech firms, still crave Nvidia chips for its computing platform known as CUDA. Huang's visit is being closely watched in both China and the United States, where a bipartisan pair of senators last week sent the CEO a letter asking him to abstain from meeting companies working with military or intelligence bodies. The senators also asked Huang to refrain from meeting with entities named on the United States' restricted export list. The move to resume sales of the H20 chips comes amid easing tensions between Washington and Beijing, with China relaxing controls on rare earth exports and the United States allowing chip design software services to restart in China. "The uncertainties between the U.S. and China remain high and despite a pause in H20's ban, Chinese companies will continue to diversify their options to better protect their supply chain integrity," said He Hui, research director of semiconductors at Omdia. The H20 chip was developed specifically for the Chinese market after U.S. export curbs imposed on national security grounds in late 2023. The AI chip was Nvidia's most powerful legally available product in China until it was effectively banned by Washington in April. The H20 ban forced Nvidia to write off $5.5 billion in inventories, and Huang told the Stratechery podcast this year that the company also had to walk away from $15 billion in sales. Nvidia also announced the development of a new AI chip designed specifically for China, called the RTX Pro GPU. The company described it as "fully compliant" with U.S. export controls and suitable for digital twin AI applications in sectors, such as smart factories and logistics. In May, Reuters reported Nvidia was preparing to launch in China a new AI chip, based on the RTX Pro 6000D, at a significantly lower price point than the H20. The graphics processing unit would be part of Nvidia's latest generation Blackwell-architecture AI processors and was expected to be priced well below the H20 for its weaker specifications and simpler manufacturing requirements, sources said. China generated $17 billion in revenue for Nvidia in the fiscal year ending January 26, or 13% of total sales, based on its latest annual report. Huang has consistently highlighted China as a critical market for Nvidia's growth.
