The historic Carlisle Barracks was the “room where it happened”. Senator David McCormick’s Defense & Innovation Summit brought together an extraordinary cross-section of people who rarely find themselves under one roof—from machinists and academics to defense leaders, entrepreneurs, AI mavericks, and some of the world’s most influential investors. But what made the Summit historic wasn’t the panels or even the more than $10 billion in investments announced. It was what happened between them: curated conversations connecting Pennsylvania’s industrial muscle and innovation ecosystem with the people who need what this Commonwealth can build. We witnessed it. We were part of it. And we are deeply grateful for the Senator’s leadership in making it happen. The message coming out of the week was unmistakable: Pennsylvania is emerging as a global center for AI, defense, advanced manufacturing, and energy—and increasingly, the place where innovation meets production.
This opportunity is enormous. Our job now is simple: keep the foot on the gas pedal (which we will do at AI Horizons this September).
Pittsburgh Is "The Place" for "Urgent, Mission-Critical AI"
One of our favorite moments came when AI Strike Team founding board member Andrew Moore explained to fellow investors, including Nir Bar Dea of Bridgewater Associates ($150 Billion AUM) why he's intentionally building in Pittsburgh—not Silicon Valley. That conversation captures exactly what we're trying to accelerate: proving that the next generation of globally significant AI companies can scale here.
Key announcements we're watching:
China can’t own the Physical AI supply chain. We must build the autonomous systems software and hardware - now. CMU, Carnegie Foundry and leading U.S. drone manufacturers launched a new autonomous systems manufacturing initiative backed by more than $50 million in investment. At the same time, Gecko Robotics announced a new manufacturing facility—another signal that Pittsburgh intends to build not only AI software, but the robots themselves.
Classified innovation infrastructure is arriving. Pittsburgh's first DIU-funded SCIF is moving forward at Hazelwood Green, creating a secure space where startups can pursue classified defense work and compete for federal contracts—a capability the AI Strike Team began championing more than a year ago.
Pennsylvania's defense manufacturing base continues to expand. Major investments in shipbuilding, autonomous systems and advanced manufacturing—from the Philadelphia Navy Yard to Carnegie Robotics—underscore Pennsylvania's growing role in rebuilding America's defense industrial base.
Less Than Three Months Ago…
Less than three months ago, the AI Strike Team, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Pittsburgh Steelers seized the global spotlight of the NFL Draft to spotlight Pittsburgh’s AI leadership to outsiders. On stage, Mark Cuban made a striking declaration: If he were starting his entrepreneurial career today, Pittsburgh would be his first choice for where to build.
Senator McCormick's Defense & Innovation Summit reinforced the same thesis. But, we can’t forget that sandwiched in between those moments, the signals continue to stack up:
Healthcare AI: AI Strike Team board member Dr. Shiv Rao announced Eli Lilly's strategic investment in Abridge, alongside a major collaboration with NVIDIA—another powerful signal that Pennsylvania is becoming a national center for AI-powered healthcare.
Frontier AI: Lovelace AI, founded by AI Strike Team board founding member Andrew Moore, demonstrated that its technology can deliver frontier AI research capabilities at a fraction of the cost of today's largest models while continuing to attract significant investment on AI Avenue.
AI Safety: CMU spinout Gray Swan raised a $40 million Series A, validating Pittsburgh's leadership in enterprise AI safety and trusted deployment.
Decision Intelligence: Pittsburgh-based Sooth raised $50 million to build next-generation AI forecasting models, further strengthening the region's growing portfolio of category-defining AI companies.
These aren't isolated announcements. They're reinforcing signals that Pennsylvania—and Pittsburgh in particular—is becoming one of America's most important places to build, deploy and manufacture AI.
The Next Frontier: "AI Acceptance "
We’ll continue building that momentum at AI Horizons, September 17–18 But winning the AI economy requires more than innovation and investment. AI needs compute. It needs energy. It needs infrastructure. And critically, it needs acceptance.
We must connect more people to this new economy—from K–12 educators and students to small businesses, workers, and legacy C-suite leaders—helping them understand AI, adopt it, and build with it. China is moving aggressively to build not only AI capacity, but broad adoption. America cannot afford to have the world’s best technology and fail to put it to work across our economy.
That is the next frontier: building AI acceptance alongside AI infrastructure. At AI Horizons, we are bringing these worlds together—not simply to talk about what’s next, but to ensure more people can understand it, trust it, adopt it, and ultimately, build with it.
Thank you to Senator McCormick and Dina Powell McCormick for once again elevating Pennsylvania.
Over and out –
Joanna Doven
CEO, AI Strike Team
About the AI Strike Team
The AI Strike Team advances strategic initiatives and cross-sector partnerships that catalyze AI-driven investment, innovation, and adoption — positioning Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania for sustained growth and leadership in the New AI Economy.
