With help from top AI labs, American teachers to get better, free training

With help and funding from Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic, the American Federation of Teachers hopes to educate 400 000 teachers across the USA in ethical AI use in classrooms.

The program will begin right away with virtual, online training for all 1.8 million members of the union, and in New York City with a «three-day training session, including six hours of AI-focused material that highlighted practical, hands-on ways to marry the emerging technology with established pedagogy.»

Already used by a fourth of students
According to the latest data, from February 2025, 79% of teens said they had heard about ChatGPT, while 26% admitted to using it in schoolwork — and there are a plethora of other tools available.

— 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 in a press release, and further opined:

— The direct connection between a teacher and their kids can never be replaced by new technologies, but if we learn how to harness it, set commonsense guardrails and put teachers in the driver’s seat, teaching and learning can be enhanced.

Big donations, big plans
The plan is to set up training hubs across the USA in the long term that will be opened by 2030, offering full training to some 400 000 educators, or about 10% of the teacher workforce.

This is made possible after the union started reaching out to AI labs asking for cooperation on the project, resulting in a pledge from OpenAI to give $10 million over the next five years. Microsoft will offer $12.5 million and Anthropic is on hand for $500 000 for the first year, reports CBS News.

Betting on education
AI technology is moving so fast that 2030 might be too late for getting up to speed, but it’s better than nothing and teachers would be wise to take advantage of the virtual classes as soon as possible.

According to Mashable, there are already several free or discounted programs available to students, and «AI developers have placed huge bets on the education field.»

Microsoft has already baked in teacher-specific tools into Microsoft 365, and launched Microsoft Learning Zone for classrooms. Google has also offered tons of AI features to Google Classroom, Workspace for Education and on Chromebook, offering education specific Gemini integration.

Read more: AFT’s press release, more detail from CBS News, and Mashable.