Does Pittsburgh need an AI Avenue?
If artificial intelligence can transform a business, can it also transform a city? On Monday, developer Walnut Capital announced plans for an “AI Avenue” in East Liberty that will link existing companies like Google and Duolingo with new AI startups birthed from Carnegie Mellon or poached from other tech cities.
The vision includes a working group. But at this point, it’s essentially a slogan.
“It’s more aspirational than operational,” said Joe Zeff, a local marketing expert not connected to the effort. But he sees the potential.
The marketing of Lawrenceville’s “Robotics Row” has already led to investment, new companies, and greater collaboration on the hardware side. An AI corridor could yield some of the same benefits for software firms.
Magarac Venture Partners, an investment group based in East Liberty, has already lured two AI companies — Netail and QuAIL Technologies — to the neighborhood.
But not every software company needs an office building. And the ones that have chosen to build local teams are also growing rapidly in Silicon Valley and New York.
Gov. Josh Shapiro is trying to incentivize innovation with budget carveouts. So far, he’s losing to Ohio.
As I reported last month: the Pittsburgh region ranks worst in the nation for job growth and near the bottom for progress in closing economic disparities, according to the Brookings Institution.
Even though more talent from CMU is staying in the city, the school’s spinoffs still struggle to reach commercialization, partially because of the lack of local capital.
An AI corridor could spur changes. It could give AI companies a natural landing spot in the city, signaling to students and companies that they can grow here. It could foster a collegial atmosphere on Penn Avenue, bringing a vibrancy that’s lacking in Downtown.
It could also push a city praised for its affordability into the higher tax brackets seen in Austin and Seattle. But the project promoters don’t see that happening anytime soon.
“I think we have so much room to grow before this is even a concern,” said Jay Katarincic, Magarac Venture co-founder.
“Pittsburgh’s not Boston or New York where things change overnight,” said Todd Reidbord, president of Walnut Capital. “It could take 30 years for that to develop given our growth trajectory.”
At a Duolingo event during Black History Month, local artists and organizers talked about changes to the “East Lib” neighborhood.
Author Damion Young said he wished there could be improvements without displacement. Pittsburgh city Councilman Khari Mosley eulogized David’s Shoes and Kevin “Bat” Andrews of Bat’s Barber Shop. Kelauni Jasmyn acknowledged she goes to Margaux — the trendy corner coffee shop that some see as a symbol of Penn Ave’s gentrification — “way too much.”
When she first moved here from Chicago, Ms. Jasmyn, who is part of the AI Avenue working group, started a nonprofit called Black Tech Nation to make the sector more inclusive.
But on that day in February, she named a different goal: “Put Pittsburgh on the map.”