The California-based tech giant announced on Tuesday that it will use the Keystone State to kick off a new nationwide initiative called AI Works, which involves free AI training for any small- or medium-sized business.
All 20 branches of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will offer city residents Google Career Certificates and Google AI courses, for free. Courses will be offered online until December 2027. Here's the link to register.
"This initiative empowers learners to gain in-demand skills, opening doors to new careers and economic mobility," said Andrew Medlar, president and director of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in a statement Monday.
Also within the AI Works initiative is a $250,000 grant awarded to the electrical training ALLIANCE, a joint training program between the National Electrical Contractors Association and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The money is aimed at more than doubling the pipeline of new electricians in Pennsylvania by 2030.
"It's about more than numbers — it's about preparing the skilled professionals needed to modernize the grid and maximize our existing infrastructure," said Todd Stafford, executive director of the training alliance in a statement Monday.
Training for businesses and residents will be available at physical locations across the commonwealth and virtually through Coursera, an online course platform founded by Stanford University professors. Learners can enroll in the Google Career Certificates program for skills such as data analytics, IT support and cybersecurity, as well as AI courses, including Google AI Essentials and Generative AI for Educators.
The training program is run by Grow with Google — the company's economic opportunity initiative — and its employees and partners.
In Pittsburgh specifically, an in-person training series will kick off later this year led by a "Grow with Google Coach" who will also provide live coaching support in the city, and across the state. More locations across Pennsylvania will be announced, Google's statement said.
Julie McAlister, a Google spokeswoman, said business founders can use AI to summarize customer feedback, create presentations, develop marketing copy and organize data.
"Sixty-five percent of [small-to-medium-sized business] leaders report saving 10+ hours per week with Google Workspace and 75% of daily Gemini users find that it improves their work quality," Ms. McAlister said, citing numbers pulled from a Google analysis in July 2024.
Clean energy for AI
Google also announced a partnership with Brookfield Asset Management, which allows Google to contract up to 3 gigawatts of hydroelectric power from Brookfield's facilities to power its data centers. That includes a $3 billion, 20-year power purchase agreement with Brookfield's Holtwood and Safe Harbor hydroelectric facilities in eastern Pennsylvania, which have a combined capacity of 670 megawatts.
In a statement, Google called it the "world's largest corporate clean power deal for hydroelectricity."
It is one of many such arrangements underpinning Google's ambition to run its operations with "carbon-free energy" by 2030.
The goal seemed to be tenuous when the company reported a steep rise in energy-related emissions, mostly as a product of the expansion of data center infrastructure and the troves of electricity needed to supply it. In its latest sustainability report, however, Google seems to have reversed the trend. While data center energy use rose again in 2024 — to nearly 31 million megawatt hours, or about the annual consumption of Ireland — its carbon emissions from data centers decreased for the first time in the past five years.
Google attributed a large chunk of that to the clean energy projects it supports through power purchase agreements, like the one the company announced on Tuesday with Holtwood and Safe Harbor.
In 2024, Google signed 60 such deals.
Google's been in the region for nearly two decades now, beginning in 2006 on Carnegie Mellon University's campus, where the company focused on AI and machine learning. Today, about 750 Google employees call Pittsburgh home.
Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Google and its parent company, Alphabet, will be at the Energy and Innovation Summit hosted by Republican Sen. Dave McCormick on Tuesday.
Ms. Porat said in a statement Monday that "Google's investments will increase energy abundance and train Pennsylvanians with the skills needed to thrive in the new economy."
This is the first of possibly many announcements to come out of the summit that calls President Donald Trump and global magnates in tech and energy to CMU.
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