Tech leaders rally behind Melania Trump’s new AI initiative

The tech industry’s top leaders gathered at the White House this week to endorse First Lady Melania Trump’s new artificial intelligence program, designed to equip American students with skills for the AI era.

On Thursday, Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, Apple, and Amazon executives joined the First Lady in pledging billions toward resources, training, and equipment. The move marks the most significant show of cooperation between Silicon Valley and the Trump administration since 2017

Mrs. Trump said that AI should be guided like children are raised and cared for, but kept under control. She noted that robots are already present and emphasized the need to prepare the workforce to use AI responsibly and direct it toward society’s good.

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella announced a far-reaching plan to push the company’s Copilot AI across U.S. schools. Effective immediately, all American college students will have free access. Teachers and K–12 students will follow within two years. The tech giant promised $4 billion in cash, services, and training for five years. Nadella called the effort a means to “empower the next generation” and said the company would maintain its nationwide partnerships with schools and educators.

Amazon also joined the push. The company pledged to train 4 million people in AI skills, support 10,000 educators, and offer American schools $30 million in AWS cloud credits. Company leaders said the move aligns with Amazon’s broader effort to help workers adjust to automation and AI in the workforce.

OpenAI and Google make big pledges

Sam Altman, co-founder of OpenAI, unveiled a new jobs board and certification program. By 2030, it aims to credit 10 million Americans with AI training through AI training programs as well as online learning tools.

Altman has spent the last year patching relations with the Trump administration, having once been critical of its policies. On Thursday, he said OpenAI was there to help workers transition and show how AI can lead to creating jobs instead of just eliminating jobs.

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai announced that the company would invest $1 billion in AI-powered education over the next three years. Google will also spend $150 million on efforts to promote learning and professional development about AI and on support for the digital well-being of smartphone users. 

Other companies signed on were IBM, Meta, Oracle, and Palantir. Over 135 commitments to projects from industry and government partners have now been agreed under the program.

The gathering was the second White House Task Force meeting on AI Education. Melania Trump chairs the group and is responsible for developing resources for schools and educators.

The task force will share toolkits, webinars, and guides in the coming months. The point is to aid teachers in bringing AI into the classroom without stressing them out. The federal government will also participate in the process, through agencies such as the Department of Education’s promise to ramp up AI research and school funding.

First Lady calls for ‘responsible’ AI expansion

Even as she urged schools to move quickly to embrace AI, the First Lady also urged caution. She emphasized the dangers of harmful applications, like deepfakes and revenge porn.

Melania Trump said she backs the Take It Down Act, which would force platforms to take down nonconsensual AI-generated content in 48 hours. She maintained that it is as important to teach students about the ethical use of AI as it is to provide them with technical skills.

And not all of tech’s leading lights made an appearance. They had invited Elon Musk, who has an AI company called xAI, but he did not attend. He sent a representative instead. Musk’s relationship with President Trump has been increasingly complicated in recent months, when he chaired a divisive government task force focused on efficiency.

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