Joanna Doven’s Testimony From the Joint Public Hearing on the Future of AI Innovation in Pennsylvania
On April 16, 2025, the Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee and House Republican Policy Committee convened a joint public hearing in Pittsburgh to explore the future of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation within the state. Held at Astrobotic Technology's headquarters on the North Side, the event brought together legislators, academic leaders, and industry experts to discuss AI's potential to transform Pennsylvania's economy and public services.
Joanna Doven’s testimony detailed where Pittsburgh is currently positioned in the AI economy as well as what is needed to transform the city into a global tech hub. Her full testimony can be read below or watched here.
Full Transcript:
Good morning.
I’m Joanna Doven, Executive Director of the AI Strike Team — a 24-month catalytic initiative launched to help our region seize its position in the New AI Economy – collaborate, push, and sometimes shove. The true north being investment and related job and population growth - and tax generation.
So, what is the New AI Economy?
It’s not just a new industry. It’s a new epoch — defined by massive innovation cycles that demand reindustrialization, resilient supply chains, and deep resource coordination. This economy is powered by graphic processing units — GPUs — and the silicon chips behind them. These engines are like trillions of ‘mini-brains’ operating and talking to each other in real time. They require advanced infrastructure, hardened environments, and access to power at a scale that eclipses industrial booms of the past.
And this isn’t hypothetical.
The economic reshuffling is already underway.
For the first time since the 1970s, Barron’s reports that Heartland states are outpacing the coastal states in economic growth. Why? From affordability, to climate resilience, land, power and a will to grow - many of these states have what is needed now in this new epoch. Some built strategies rooted in their existing assets - some looked at where the puck was going and created new markets. All of the winning states rolled out the red carpet for investment and removed the friction that too often delays innovation and related job growth.
In Tulsa, a coordinated drone strategy brought together R&D, advanced manufacturing, and real-world testing. The result: 5,000 new jobs, 12% population growth, and nearly $1 billion in annual tax revenue, all driven by deliberate public and private sector investment.
In Columbus, data centers have grown by 43% since 2020. In 2024 alone, they generated $931 million in paid local and state taxes.
And just last week, at a global innovation district summit - I sat on a panel with an economic leader from Arizona whose governor is deep in budget negotiations. But thanks to TSMC’s new semiconductor facility, the state had unexpected fiscal flexibility — because tax revenues from chip production had already far outpaced projections (turns out the sales tax is significant). Another TSMC AZ investment was just announced to increase by another $100 billion in investment — the largest foreign direct investment in U.S. history.
This is the new reality.
The economic map is being redrawn — in real time.
And the places that move with focus and speed are winning.
But I want to be clear: this moment isn’t just about infrastructure or even about economics.
It’s about sovereignty.
It’s about security.
It’s about our children’s future.
It’s about whether America — and its allies — will outpace China in the AI arms race.
Whether we will define the future of the internet, warfare, medicine, humankind — or whether it will be defined for us.
At its core, this moment is about innovating and commercializing AI technologies at scale — in the metros and states that produce AI products people want and the world desperately needs.
And in this context, Pennsylvania is exceptionally well-positioned to lead.
Consider where the capital is going:
In 2024, defense and healthcare AI saw over 30% year-over-year venture growth — two sectors where we already have legacy, expertise, and potential unicorn companies.
With more than $150 billion in defense tech investment federally allocated for 2025, we should view this as venture capital from Washington. But whether it flows here or elsewhere depends on what we do now. PA already ranks #7 nationally in DOD contract allocation. This is a moment of obligation. AI is the new Steel. We grew economies throughout PA by producing the steel that defeated tyranny. Now, we must build AI that does the same - with our rich energy resources, with our labor, with our researchers and innovators.
Here are three things state legislators can do now:
First: Quickly Enact Policies that Spur the Commercialization and Growth of Homegrown AI Companies.
GPUs are the lifeblood of AI. And compute costs are projected to rise 5x.
Let’s provide discounted access to compute — so companies like Abridge and Skild AI don’t just start here; they scale and hire here. Their growth equates to high-paying innovation jobs, significant tax revenue. We can do this with a Competitive Compute Tax Credit — paired with incentives for behind-the-meter natural gas-powered data centers — would send a clear signal to the market.
We’re open for business — and ready to lead.
Second: Incentivize and Market AI Industrial Growth Zones.
Former industrial steel sites should become AI Factories — with power, fiber, and permitting ready to go. 600 components go into one rack - the size of a refrigerator. Let’s create highly incentivized AI Growth Zones and go outbound, colocating of data center suppliers next to data centers - powering new massive industrial complexes with our natural gas. We could deliver a model for AI state-shoring that people copy — be the state that takes charge of our economic future in this global imperative.
Third: Create a bipartisan, nimble AI Investment Strike Team.
Build out the statewide defense tech supply chain - think big, Federal AI Hubs, defense tech prime colocations and units, and coordinated DOD procurement pathways. We already train the Army on AI in Pittsburgh. But we need to go further.
The New AI Economy demands more. More bipartisan and multisector collaboration, different economic models and ways of thinking. More speed. More investment to signal “come here” now. Highly marketed ecosystems where research, industry, and innovation physically collide. Innovation districts with teeth — where global ambition meets local execution. The AI Strike Team was formed to act as shock absorbers in this wild time in history – collaborate with stakeholders whenever possible and move with urgency.
We launched in December and already pivoting is essential. We over globalized and are exiting entering a new phase de-globalization— where states stand to play a much larger role in their economies through near-shoring and what I would call state-shoring.
This is a once-in-a-generation inflection point. Those who lean into AI will grow jobs, those who lean out will lose jobs.
You’ve taken the first step by holding this hearing.
Now, let’s go further — with speed and strategy.
At Nvidia’s global summit last month, I spoke with someone deeply embedded in the field. He looked at me and said plainly:
“Your kids may never know the word cancer.”
That’s the pace we’re moving at. And that’s the scale of the opportunity we must meet.
Thank you.
