The White House has announced that more than 60 companies have joined its pledge to provide K-12 students with resources to ready the next generation of workers for an AI-driven economy.
Those resources include funding and grants; curriculum and materials; technology and tools; workforce development resources; mentorship and technical expertise; and will also provide professional development support for teachers. These efforts will coincide with those by the White House Task Force on AI Education and will take place over the next four years.
“Fostering young people’s interest and expertise in artificial intelligence is crucial to maintaining American technological dominance,” Michael Kratsios, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and chair of the AI education task force, said in a statement. “These initial pledges from American organizations will help create new educational and workforce development opportunities for our students.”
According to the White House, the pledge “will help make AI education accessible” and spark “curiousity in the technology.”
Companies that have joined the pledge include Amazon, Apple, Dell, IBM, NVIDIA, OpenAI, Palo Alto Networks, and Scale AI.
“We are thrilled that so many organizations have signed the Pledge to America’s Youth,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “It is clear there is a lot of energy about AI and how it can be used responsibly in education.”
The pledge follows an executive order from President Donald Trump in April where he established the AI education task force and directed the integration of AI into K-12 schools to equip youth with skills needed to further AI innovation.
That task force was steered to specifically establish public-private partnerships to provide resources for student’s education and would later include a “Presidential AI Challenge” which – while details are thin – would “feature multiple age categories, distinct geographic regions for competition, and a variety of topical themes … to reflect the breadth of AI applications.”
Trump’s order had also directed the National Science Foundation (NSF) to emphasize research on the use of AI in education.
“Through our ongoing efforts to fund cutting-edge research, support teacher development, and expand access to STEM education in every corner of the country, we are committed to ensuring that all students have the opportunity to engage with and contribute to the future of AI” Brian Stone, who is performing the duties of the NSF director, said in a statement about the AI pledge.