Elected leaders on both sides of the aisle gathered in northeast Pennsylvania to mark what they describe as a historic investment into the Keystone State.
Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that Amazon Web Services is investing at least $20 billion to build two artificial intelligence (AI) innovation campuses, creating at least 1,250 jobs in the state. The governor called it the largest private sector investment in the history of Pennsylvania.
One campus will be located in northeast Pennsylvania’s Salem Township, Luzerne County, alongside the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station. Amazon announced in March that it had purchased a 1,200 acre site adjacent to the nuclear power plant from Houston-based Talen Energy. The company expects to build out the site with data centers that would consume as much energy as 900,000 homes and require millions of gallons of cooling water each day.
The other campus will be in the suburbs north of Philadelphia at the Keystone Trade Center, a site in Falls Township, Bucks County. It used to be home to a U.S. steel mill and is still partly used by USX. Several other communities across the commonwealth are under consideration for future campuses, as well, officials said.
“We stand to gain so much here in Pennsylvania with this historic investment from Amazon,” Shapiro said. “And our country stands to gain much as well, because America’s national security will once again be strengthened by the hands of Pennsylvania workers.”
Shapiro said the initial $20 billion investment is “already three times larger than the largest state supported project” in the history of Pennsylvania.
Berwick, a former coal mining community in Columbia County where the press conference was held, is close to the northeast Pennsylvania data center site. Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said it reminded him of the area where he grew up in southwestern Pennsylvania that was impacted by the collapse of the steel industry. Davis said similar investments can help areas across the commonwealth adapt to the future.
GOP U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick lives in western Pennsylvania, but is originally from nearby Bloomsburg. He was also on hand to tout Amazon’s investment.
“When I graduated from Bloomsburg High School in 1983, 42 years ago, I would have never imagined standing here in Berwick as part of a program that announces $20 billion of investment in Salem Township (and) Bucks County,” McCormick said.
Kevin Miller, Amazon Web Services vice president of global data centers, said these facilities are “going to serve as the backbone” for America’s AI infrastructure.
“Our choice of Pennsylvania for this investment is not accidental. It’s a combination of the skilled workforce, the strong infrastructure, as well as the commitment to clean energy and energy from multiple sources that really align well with Amazon’s needs, building the future of AI and cloud computing,” Miller said. “We see in Pennsylvania a partner that shares our vision for sustainable, community centered growth.”
This will be a multi-year process for these projects, Miller said, and described the partnership as “creating a blueprint for how government and industry can partner to drive innovation while creating opportunity for many, many families.”
Shapiro highlighted Pennsylvania’s energy resources, noting the state is the second largest energy producer in the country. He also said the commonwealth has a track record on innovation.
“We can produce enough power to support the energy intensive supercomputers and server farms at Amazon’s data centers, affordable energy to this (Jackson mansion where the press conference was held), while still delivering reliable affordable energy to our small businesses that line our main streets, to our families and right into their living rooms,” Shapiro said.
He went on to describe himself as an “all of the above energy” governor. He also said state government is “already all in on AI.”
In September 2023, Shapiro signed an executive order to create an AI governing board for Pennsylvania with the intention of guiding the commonwealth’s use of generative artificial intelligence, including developing training programs for state employees. In March, Shapiro provided an update on that program and said 85% of the 175 commonwealth employees from 14 different agencies who used AI for their jobs reported that they had a positive experience.
McCormick and other lawmakers described it as a joint effort between multiple levels of government and parties to bring the investment to the state.
“We have all the ingredients for Pennsylvania’s rebirth, all the ingredients to put Pennsylvania at the very top,” McCormick said.
Labor leaders in attendance celebrated the “thousands” of jobs this project will create for the construction industry.
Although Pennsylvania’s workforce was at the forefront of the discussion, Shapiro also said these jobs also show that the state can lead on national security issues.
“Right now, there is a battle for supremacy when it comes to AI, a battle that will be won by either the United States or China,” Shapiro said. “I’m comforted by the fact that, thanks to Amazon, the future of AI is going to run right here through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, because I think those technologies should be developed by the hands of a Pennsylvania worker…not in communist China.”
