Microsoft sets aside $4bn for AI courses

Microsoft said Wednesday that it planned to give more than $4 billion in cash and technology services to train millions of people to use artificial intelligence, amid an intensifying Silicon Valley crusade to embed chatbots into classrooms.

- NATASHA SINGER

Microsoft, the maker of the Copilot chatbot, said the resources would go to schools, community colleges, technical colleges and nonprofits. The company is also starting a new training programme, Microsoft Elevate Academy, to “deliver AI education and skilling at scale” and help 20 million people earn certificates in AI.

“Microsoft will serve as an advocate to ensure that students in every school across the country have access to AI education,” Brad Smith, the president of Microsoft, said in an interview Sunday.

Microsoft did not immediately specify how much of the more than $4 billion the company planned to dispense as grants and how much of it would be in the form of Microsoft AI services and cloud computing credits.