*

Trump will announce some $70 billion in energy and data

center

investments in Pennsylvania

*

The event comes as White House prepares executive orders

to

boost AI and data centers

*

Big Tech is scrambling to access a strained national power

grid

to power the energy-guzzling data centers

By Jarrett Renshaw

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, July 15 (Reuters) - President

Donald Trump will join executives from some of the largest U.S.

tech and energy companies for a summit in Pittsburgh on Tuesday

as the administration prepares fresh measures to power the U.S.

expansion of artificial intelligence.

Top economic rivals U.S. and China are locked in a

technological arms race over who can dominate AI as the

technology takes on increasing importance everywhere from

corporate boardrooms to the battlefield.

The Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon

University is expected to bring tech executives and officials

from top energy and tech firms including Meta,

Microsoft ( MSFT ), Alphabet and Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) to

discuss how to position the U.S. as a leader in AI.

Trump will use the summit - put together by U.S. Senator Dave

McCormick, a Republican ally from Pennsylvania - to announce

some $70 billion in artificial intelligence and energy

investments in the state.

Big Tech is scrambling to secure vast amounts of electricity

supplies to power the energy-guzzling data centers needed for

its rapid expansion of artificial intelligence.

The CEOs expected to attend include Khaldoon Al-Mubarak of

Mubadala, Rene Hass of SoftBank, Larry Fink of BlackRock, Darren

Woods of ExxonMobil ( XOM ), Brendan Bechtel of Bechtel and Dario Amodei

of Anthropic.

The White House is considering executive actions in the coming

weeks to make it easier for power-generating projects to connect

to the grid and also provide federal land on which to build the

data centers needed to expand AI technology, Reuters previously

reported.

The administration is also weighing streamlining permitting

for data centers by creating a nationwide Clean Water Act

permit, rather than requiring companies to seek permits on a

state-by-state basis.

Mike Sommers, head of the influential American Petroleum

Institute, said executive action is welcomed to unlock the

energy needed to power the data centers, but a more durable

solution is needed.

"Real durable permitting reform requires an act of Congress,

not just an executive order," Sommers said in an interview with

Reuters.

Trump ordered his administration in January to produce an AI

Action Plan that would make "America the world capital in

artificial intelligence" and reduce regulatory barriers to its

rapid expansion.

That report, which includes input from the National Security

Council, is due by July 23. The White House is considering

making July 23 "AI Action Day" to draw attention to the report

and demonstrate its commitment to expanding the industry,

Reuters has reported.

U.S. power demand is hitting record highs this year after

nearly two decades of stagnation as AI and cloud computing data

centers balloon in numbers and size across the country.

The demand is also leading to unprecedented deals between the

power industry and technology companies, including the attempted

restart of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in

Pennsylvania between Constellation Energy ( CEG ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ).

The surge has led to concerns about power shortages that

threaten to raise electricity bills and increase the risk of

blackouts, while slowing Big Tech in its global race against

countries like China to dominate artificial intelligence.