The governor’s office said California has signed agreements with Google, Adobe, IBM and Microsoft to expand AI training for students in grades 9-12, community colleges and the California State University system.

The office said the partnerships were reached at no cost to the state and will make software, curricula support and instructor training available to more than two million students in public high schools and higher education institutions.

The release said Adobe will provide classroom-ready tools including Adobe Express, Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Firefly plus AI literacy content and programming to support teachers and students.

The release said Google will expand access to its online Prompting Essentials course and offer its Generative AI for Educators course at no cost to California learners and teachers.

The release said IBM will bring IBM SkillsBuild, faculty training, industry-recognized credentials and plans for regional AI labs and short-term certificates into community college programs.

The release said Microsoft, the Foundation for California Community Colleges and the California Community College Chancellor’s Office have delivered a bootcamp series on AI foundations, cybersecurity and Microsoft Copilot to train faculty and prepare students for hands-on learning.

“AI is expected to touch nearly every aspect of the working world, so making sure California students are fluent in AI tools will give them a huge advantage as they start their careers,” said , Secretary of Labor & Workforce Development, in the release. “Generative AI is reshaping the future of work, revolutionizing industries and creating entirely new career paths,” said Matthew Schneider, Managing Director, Education, State & Local Government, Google Public Sector.

The governor’s office said the solutions are voluntary and will be made available at no cost to schools and institutions. The office said leadership from the new partnerships will move into an implementation phase to place the tools and training in classrooms and workforce pathways across the state. The Journal expects individual districts and campuses will decide whether and how to adopt the free offerings, and that uptake will determine how quickly students see new course options or credentials offered locally.

State

Stewart Knox

Secretary, California Labor and Workforce Development Agency

Named once in this story.

Everything the Journal has reported on Stewart

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