San Jose Is Introducing New AI Skills Training for Residents

Any resident living in Silicon Valley’s central city now has access to free training in using AI.

A public private partnership among the city of San Jose, Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, and the Bay Area Council has introduced the AI for All project, which the city’s Mayor Matt Mahan described as a “first in the nation” effort “to make San Jose the most AI literate city in the nation,” in remarks during the opening Wednesday of the second annual GovAI Coalition Summit.*

The program will operate as an online self-paced portal to provide courses, training pathways and certifications, created in partnership with Google, Open AI and Anthropic. It is offered in a variety of languages and provides in-person instruction as well.

“And it’s all free to all of our residents. And hopefully becomes a model that other cities and jurisdictions can use,” Mahan said.

The initiative is part of San Jose’s leadership role in AI and enabling residents to have the proper skill sets to use the technology effectively and responsibly. This follows similar education steps the city has taken with its workforce. San Jose announced its AI Upskilling Program over the summer, a 10-week city-led training initiative to help city workers use AI tools.

The city is already experiencing 10 percent to 20 percent efficiency gains for the 80 workers who have completed the upskilling training courses, Mahan said.

“Our goal by the end of 2026 is to train over 1,000 employees, or about 15 percent of our workforce here in San Jose,” he said.

The AI for All initiative is structured to put in place “a future that is inclusive where AI enables upward mobility rather than deepening inequality. We can’t leave that to chance. We’ve got to lean in and make sure everyone is empowered to harness these tools,” the mayor said.

The GovAI Coalition, for which San Jose is a founding member, now includes more than 900 public agencies. Its second summit at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center Wednesday and Thursday includes more than 600 attendees, Khaled Tawfik, the city’s CIO, said, noting the coalition adds 100 new members every month.

*The GovAI Coalition Summit is hosted by Government Technology in partnership with the GovAI Coalition and the city of San Jose.

This story was originally published in Government Technology, Industry Insider — California's sister publication.