Anthropic have announced a $2 million contribution to Carnegie Mellon University programmes focused on AI-powered energy solutions and cybersecurity workforce development, at the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit.
CEO Dario Amodei joined President Trump and Senator Dave McCormick at the Carnegie Mellon University event to discuss America's energy infrastructure needs for AI competitiveness. The company states that "the country that controls the energy to train and deploy frontier AI models will shape the future of global innovation, economic competitiveness, and democratic values."
The funding splits equally between two initiatives. One million dollars supports energy research through the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation's Grand Challenge Partnership Programme, established in 2023. This investment will leverage AI to automate and optimise grid management while driving energy efficiency and resilience. The Scott Institute serves as Carnegie Mellon's hub for collaborative research, strategic partnerships, policy outreach, entrepreneurship, and education focused on energy futures.
The remaining $1 million supports Carnegie Mellon's picoCTF program, which provides free cybersecurity education to middle and high school students through capture-the-flag competitions. The program offers hands-on challenges covering cryptography, web exploitation, forensics, and reverse engineering. According to Anthropic, these cybersecurity skills form critical building blocks for securing energy infrastructure and other critical systems.
Anthropic emphasises that energy infrastructure extends beyond powering data centres, requiring "reliable, abundant energy sources and modernised electric grids capable of supporting the computational and energy demands of advanced AI systems." The company indicates these investments represent initial steps, with plans to continue funding organisations working to reduce negative environmental impacts.
The investments target grid management automation and cybersecurity workforce development for critical infrastructure protection. Anthropic plans continued partnerships with organisations focused on environmental impact reduction and clean energy innovation through AI applications.
The strategic focus on energy infrastructure and cybersecurity workforce development positions AI as both a solution for grid optimisation and a driver of specialised skills training. Cross-sector collaboration between government, industry, and academic institutions emerges as the implementation framework for sustained American AI leadership.