To start, $16.9 million will go toward access to ChatGPT Edu, a new purpose-built version of Open AI’s chatbot with data privacy guardrails, for faculty and students across the state’s 23 campuses. But the initiative extends beyond chatbots, with major tech companies stepping in to provide faculty training and certifications and hands-on learning tools for students and ultimately create industry pipelines to make California a global competitor in an AI-driven workforce.
EXPANDING AI INITIATIVES ACROSS CAMPUSES
A sampling of California State University campuses have already started working with tech companies to expand AI education programming, but the statewide initiative is focused on aligning priorities and ensuring all campuses have access to these resources.
For example, five university campuses are currently Adobe Creative Campuses, or schools offering all students, faculty and staff access to Adobe Express, an AI-powered content creation platform. According to the company’s director of Education Learning and Advocacy, Brian Johnsrud, that platform will now be available across the CSU system.
“With Acrobat AI Assistant, they can boost their productivity in their research,” Johnsrud wrote in an email to Government Technology. “And with Firefly generative AI models, students are better able to bring their creative visions to life, no matter how much creative training they have.”
Louis Stewart, head of strategic initiatives for the developer ecosystem at NVIDIA, touted the CSU partnership as an expansion of the company’s work to date. In August, NVIDIA partnered with the state to offer AI training and certification through its Deep Learning Institute University Ambassador Program. In December, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with San Jose State University and the city of San Jose, outlining goals to promote AI literacy and workforce development.
“It really is just a continuation and allows us to work with everybody,” Stewart said.
For its part, CSU created an AI Commons Hub that offers AI tools, training and certification programs available for students across the university system.
BUILDING A WORKFORCE PIPELINE
Darren Pulsipher, chief solution architect for the public sector at Intel, explained in an email to Government Technology that education will be key to filling jobs created by emerging AI technologies.
“A rapidly growing creator economy and breakthrough AI technologies have increased the demand for AI literacy and creative skills across all industries,” Pulsipher wrote. “In California alone, the creator economy employs more than 800,000 people, or 4.6 percent of the state’s workforce, and supports nearly 875,00 local service jobs.”
Ultimately, these companies, along with government officials and educators, hope to equip students to meet the needs of California’s industries. In NVIDIA’s case, that will mean a focus on upskilling students, fostering talent retention and looking beyond their own internal needs.
“We’re actually really looking at the states, looking at the universities in those states, and the entire ecosystems,” Stewart said. “Because we're largely industry-agnostic — we can help those ecosystems grow, whether it be startups, whether it be new developers, whether it be the states, and just trying to retain talent so they don’t go other places.”
Intel’s contributions to the CSU partnership will include training modules and tools like OpenVINO, an open source AI coding toolkit, for AI optimization and computing. Meanwhile, Adobe tools leverage AI in more creative spaces.
“All of us bring different skills and talents to the table to help uplift the workforce in the state,” Stewart said.
According to a news release, students will also have opportunities to work with AI professionally through apprenticeship programs.
A MODEL FOR OTHER STATES AND UNIVERSITIES
With more than 460,000 students and 63,000 faculty members, CSU is touting its AI initiative as the first and largest of its kind.
The news release said leaders from the companies and universities will work together on an AI Workforce Acceleration Board, whose first meeting will be held in March. Johnsrud said he hopes their discussions on what is working can be useful to anyone interested in replicating the program.
“Our priorities in these conversations include AI literacy, responsible AI development and bridging academia with industry needs,” he said. “We collaborate with other tech companies by sharing best practices, aligning skill requirements and co-investing in AI education initiatives.”
This article first appeared in Government Technology, sister publication to Industry Insider — California.
