Hamm Institute hosts American Energy + AI Initiative event, spotlighting urgent needs to power AI

Hamm Institute hosts American Energy + AI Initiative event, spotlighting urgent needs to power AI

Friday, September 12, 2025

Media Contact: Dara McBee | Hamm Institute for American Energy | 580-350-7248 | [email protected]

Leaders gathered at the Hamm Institute for American Energy at Oklahoma State University on Thursday to focus on one urgent question: how will the United States power the rise of artificial intelligence?

The discussion of the roundtable report out of the American Energy + AI Initiative underscored emerging top-tier priorities and highlighted the speed and scale required to align energy systems with rapid advances in data and technology.

Keynote speaker Mark P. Mills, Hamm Institute Distinguished Scholar, described how data centers and AI applications will drive a surge in demand unlike anything before. Mills is leading the Hamm Institute's core research for the American Energy + AI Initiative, which is shaping the policy and investment agenda to ensure that America can meet this challenge.

OSU President Jim Hess also gave remarks, emphasizing the university's leadership in advancing applied research and preparing the next generation of energy leaders.

A featured panel brought together a mix of perspectives from across energy and technology. Panelists included Harold Hamm, founder of the Hamm Institute and Chairman Emeritus of Continental Resources; Caroline Cochran, co-founder of Oklo; Takajiro Ishikawa, CEO of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries; and E.Y. Easley, research fellow at SK Innovation.

Together, they explored how natural gas, nuclear innovation, global supply chains and international collaboration can help meet the moment.

"The United States has the resources it needs. What it lacks is speed, certainty and alignment," said Ann Bluntzer Pullin, executive director of the Hamm Institute. "This initiative is about turning urgency into action so that America and its allies can lead in both energy and AI."

The initiative has already convened roundtables in Washington, D.C.; Denver; and Palo Alto, California. Each conversation has surfaced priorities that move beyond analysis toward action, including timely permitting, stronger demand signals to unlock investment, reforms to unclog grid interconnection, and deeper coordination with allies on fuels and technology.

The initiative's next steps will focus on solidifying and advancing these emerging top-tier priorities. The Hamm Institute will continue to convene leaders and deliver research that accelerates solutions to meet AI's energy demand.