PTC’DC 2026 to focus on AI infrastructure, power and policy

PTC will bring digital infrastructure leaders, hyperscale executives, investors and government officials to Reston, Virginia, on Sept. 17 for PTC’DC 2026. The event will center on AI’s growing power demand, capital concentration and geopolitical pressure as the industry scales.

Why it matters: - AI buildout is shifting from a software story to an infrastructure and competitiveness story. - The pace of investment, energy planning and policy response is becoming a constraint on how fast the AI economy can grow. - The event aims to connect the people who build, finance and regulate that infrastructure in one room.

What happened: - PTC will host PTC’DC 2026 on Sept. 17 in Reston, Virginia. - The gathering will bring together senior leaders from digital infrastructure, hyperscale platforms, private equity and government. - The agenda will focus on infrastructure scale, energy strategy and policy alignment tied to global AI growth. - Registration is open at PTC’s PTC’DC page.

The details: - The opening program, “AI 2030: The Global Race for Power and Capital,” will examine hyperscale concentration, infrastructure intensity and the shifting balance between the United States and China. - Sessions will cover gigawatt-scale power deployment and high-density AI facilities in constrained markets. - Other topics include consolidation pressures in the fiber sector, community resistance to data center expansion and policy frameworks shaping sovereign AI and export controls. - Confirmed participants include the CEOs of Digital Realty, Colt, Dapple, Cogent Communications, Connectbase, EdgeConneX and Vertiv. - Senior executives from NVIDIA, CoreWeave and Verizon Partner Solutions are also confirmed. - Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy Nate Fick is among the participants.

Between the lines: - PTC is positioning the conference as a forum for a more politicized phase of AI growth, where access to capital and electricity matters as much as chips and software. - The event’s speaker mix shows how closely data centers, telecom, power and public policy are now linked. - The emphasis on U.S.-China competition and export controls suggests the AI infrastructure race is becoming a geopolitical issue, not just a commercial one.

What’s next: - PTC’DC 2026 will take place Sept. 17 as the third annual edition of the event. - The discussions are expected to surface the operational and policy pressures shaping the next phase of AI infrastructure expansion. - PTC said the forum is designed to help industry and government engage directly on the realities of the buildout.

The bottom line: - PTC’DC 2026 is betting that the biggest bottlenecks in AI are now power, capital and policy — not just technology.