Look inside: Scenes from the protest against the $90B corporate pledge to Pennsylvania AI
Sen. Dave McCormick's Energy and Innovation Summit, which took place at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), welcomed President Donald Trump, Governor Josh Shapiro and other top political and tech stakeholders to announce a $90 billion pledge from the private sector toward data centers and AI investments. The university faced backlash from the community for both Trump's presence and a lack of focus on the climate consequences of these investments.
'I don't know about you, but I want water for Pennsylvania homes, families and businesses, not Google, AI or ChatGPT,' environmental policy advocate Lauren Posey said, according to PublicSource.
Leading up to the summit, CMU staff also spoke up, expressing disappointment in the school's decision to host Trump as he's denied the climate crisis, sparred with higher education institutions and targeted the legal status of international students.
'I don't think it's aligned with the values of many faculty who work on energy and AI at the university,' Emma Strubell, an assistant professor at CMU's Language Technology Institute, told WESA.
Here's a look inside the protest.
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Look inside: Scenes from the protest against the $90B corporate pledge to Pennsylvania AI
Officials' enthusiastic promotion of a landmark investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure didn't convince hundreds of people, who gathered on Tuesday to protest how it could hurt their communities. Sen. Dave McCormick's Energy and Innovation Summit, which took place at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), welcomed President Donald Trump, Governor Josh Shapiro and other top political and tech stakeholders to announce a $90 billion pledge from the private sector toward data centers and AI investments. The university faced backlash from the community for both Trump's presence and a lack of focus on the climate consequences of these investments. 'I don't know about you, but I want water for Pennsylvania homes, families and businesses, not Google, AI or ChatGPT,' environmental policy advocate Lauren Posey said, according to PublicSource. Leading up to the summit, CMU staff also spoke up, expressing disappointment in the school's decision to host Trump as he's denied the climate crisis, sparred with higher education institutions and targeted the legal status of international students. 'I don't think it's aligned with the values of many faculty who work on energy and AI at the university,' Emma Strubell, an assistant professor at CMU's Language Technology Institute, told WESA. Here's a look inside the protest.
