State News

Amazon Invests $20 billion for AI infrastructure in PA

1,250 jobs to result from Amazon’s $20 billion investment in the construction of AI data collection centers in Pennsylvania. 

On Monday June 9th, Governor Josh Shapiro and Senator Dave McCormick, along with Amazon, announced the official commencement of a $20 billion investment to construct and operate two new innovation campuses for AI data collection. One will be located on Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River in Luzerne County. The other will be in Bucks County on the Delaware River in Keystone Trade Center’s industrial park. 

In 2024, Amazon established data center projects in Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio, and North Carolina, although individually each investment was only half of their current $20 billion investment in Pennsylvania. 

These new sites are expected to create up to 1,250 jobs for the workers who will be contracted to build and maintain the sites as well as for PA college graduates whose skills will be required to operate and run the data collection software. Such jobs will include data center engineers, network specialists, engineering operations managers and security specialists. The Shapiro administration will spend $10 million to forward the development of training programs in schools, colleges and communities along with the donation of facilities, equipment and curriculum from Amazon. 

Amazon’s Chief Global Affairs and Legal Officer David Zapolsky said, “By expanding our cloud computing infrastructure, we’re investing in Pennsylvania’s future through new jobs, workforce development programs, and community initiatives. We look forward to helping drive the next generation of technology innovation, while delivering meaningful benefits for Pennsylvania residents.”

Proponents of the deal look forward to the benefit of construction on area vendors and local workers, as well as the substantial local government tax revenues generated by the centers which will boost school systems and government departments. 

The increased demand for artificial intelligence services across the U.S. means an increased need for data centers that provide the cloud-computing power for AI operation. Data centers require an enormous amount of power to run, as they house servers, storage systems, networking equipment and cooling systems.

The Luzerne County innovation campus will be built directly adjacent to the Susquehanna power plant. If the deal between Amazon and the power plant’s primary owner Talen Energy is approved by the federal government, the data collection center will acquire its power directly from the plant rather than a much less efficient electricity grid set-up. This unprecedented power-supply deal is on pause while it is being reviewed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions. 

The two new data collection centers usher in Shapiro’s larger plan to bring Amazon’s artificial intelligence operations into Pennsylvania, a decisive move in his initiative to boost the Pennsylvanian economy. As he reminded listeners at the deal’s announcement, Amazon’s AI investment is the largest private investment in the history of the commonwealth. “Pennsylvania is competing again,” he said. The Bucks County center will be built on the site of an old steel mill, an apt connection to Pennsylvania’s history of technological and industrial involvement. 

“Steel needs AI. AI needs Steel,” says Joanne Doven, director of the AI Strike Team, a group working to make Pittsburgh a global AI hub and generate 100,000 tech jobs regionally by 2028. Doven emphasizes Pittsburgh’s critical position in the AI world as a steel manufacturer, particularly in wake of the merger between Japanese and U.S. steel approved by President Donald Trump, involving a billion dollar offer to acquire Pittsburgh’s steel industry, an offer supported by McCormick. 

Senator McCormick, an adamant proponent of Amazon’s investment, called it a “Pennsylvania Renaissance” that “transcends political parties,” using its announcement as momentum for his Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit to take place in Pittsburgh in July. McCormick highlighted Pennsylvania as a strategic placement for Amazon due to its energy resources, water proximity, population centers, skilled workforce and elite research institutions.

While Pennsylvania is the largest electrical energy exporter in the U.S, Virginia has the most data collection centers, housing 576 of the 3,760 nationwide. A Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission analyzed the economic impact of Virginia’s data collection and found that it would contribute 74,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in combined laborer income and $9.1 billion in GDP annually. These benefits come from the construction phase of the data centers rather than the operation phase. For such economic trends to be ongoing, whether in Virginia or Pennsylvania, the AI industry has to keep initiating building projects. With the ever-rising demand for AI capabilities, the continued construction of data centers seems likely.