Microsoft pushes $4B at AI education for the masses

Hey, teacher, leave those kids to AI

After committing more than $13 billion in strategic investments to OpenAI, Microsoft is splashing out billions more to get people using the technology.

On Wednesday, Redmond announced a $4 billion donation of cash and technology to schools and non-profits over the next five years. It's branding this philanthropic mission as Microsoft Elevate, which is billed as "providing people and organizations with AI skills and tools to thrive in an AI-powered economy." It will also start the AI Economy Institute (AIEI), a so-called corporate think tank stocked with academics that will be publishing research on how the workforce needs to adapt to AI tech.

The bulk of the money will go toward AI and cloud credits for K-12 schools and community colleges, and Redmond claims 20 million people will "earn an in-demand AI skilling credential" under the scheme, although Microsoft's record on such vendor-backed certifications is hardly spotless.

"Working in close coordination with other groups across Microsoft, including LinkedIn and GitHub, Microsoft Elevate will deliver AI education and skilling at scale," said Brad Smith, president and vice chair of Microsoft Corporation, in a blog post. "And it will work as an advocate for public policies around the world to advance AI education and training for others."

It's not an entirely new scheme - Redmond already had its Microsoft Philanthropies and Tech for Social Impact charitable organizations, but they are now merging into Elevate. Smith noted Microsoft has already teamed up with North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany to train students on AI, and says similar partnerships across the US education system will follow.

Microsoft is also looking to recruit teachers to the cause.

On Tuesday, Microsoft, along with Anthropic and OpenAI, said it was starting the National Academy for AI Instruction with the American Federation of Teachers to train teachers in AI skills and to pass them on to the next generation. The scheme has received $23 million in funding from the tech giants spread over five years, and aims to train 400,000 teachers at training centers across the US and online.

"AI holds tremendous promise but huge challenges—and it’s our job as educators to make sure AI serves our students and society, not the other way around," said AFT President Randi Weingarten in a canned statement.

"The direct connection between a teacher and their kids can never be replaced by new technologies, but if we learn how to harness it, set commonsense guardrails and put teachers in the driver’s seat, teaching and learning can be enhanced."

Meanwhile, the AIEI will sponsor and convene researchers to produce publications, including policy briefs and research reports, on applying AI skills in the workforce, leveraging a global network of academic partners.

Hopefully they can do a better job of it than Redmond's own staff. After 9,000 layoffs from Microsoft earlier this month, largely in the Xbox division, Matt Turnbull, an executive producer at Xbox Game Studios Publishing, went viral with a spectacularly tone-deaf LinkedIn post (now removed) to former staff members offering AI prompts "to help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss." ®