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Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic are teaming up with two major teachers’ unions to launch the National Academy of AI Instruction. It is a $23 million initiative that aims to train 400,000 K–12 teachers in artificial intelligence over the next five years.
Unveiled on Tuesday, the program is a joint effort between leading AI companies and educational organizations including the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and United Federation of Teachers (UFT). The academy will offer both online and in-person training, the latter to be hosted at a new campus in New York City.
The goal is to equip educators with the tools to use AI effectively, safely, and ethically in the classroom. Instruction will begin this fall, combining workshops, expert-designed online courses, and live sessions led by AI professionals and experienced teachers.
Funding Breakdown and Industry Involvement
- Microsoft will invest $12.5 million in the program over five years.
- OpenAI will contribute $10 million, including $2 million in-kind support like computing access.
- Anthropic plans to fund $500,000 in the first year, with potential for increased investment over time.
These companies will not only fund the initiative but also introduce their own tools into the training, providing hands-on experience for educators with their AI systems.
The initiative launches as educators and policymakers actively debate the role of AI in education. Some schools have banned AI tools like ChatGPT, while others, like New York City’s education department, have reversed previous bans to explore AI’s potential more deeply.
“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.
The academy aims to help teachers leverage AI for lesson planning, grading, and engagement, while also ensuring students learn how to responsibly interact with this rapidly evolving technology.
Tech and Teachers Benefit Alike
Tech companies will gain valuable classroom feedback that could guide the future of their AI products. There’s even potential for new tools to emerge in collaboration with teachers themselves.
“How can we make sure that, in the K–12 context, that we’re equipping those kids, those students, with the skills that they’re going to need to be able to succeed in what we think of as the intelligence age?” said Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s Chief Global Affairs Officer. “And you can’t do that unless it’s actually given to the teachers to do that work.”
With AI transforming workplaces and society at large, this initiative hopes to build a national model for AI integration in schools, one that supports educators instead of overwhelming them. And in doing so, it may just lay the groundwork for the next generation of tech-savvy students and ethically-aware digital citizens.
