Tech giants launch $23M NYC-based academy to train teachers on AI

OpenAI, Microsoft, and Anthropic have partnered with major teachers’ unions to launch the National Academy for AI Instruction, a $23 million initiative that will train K-12 educators on classroom AI integration starting this fall. The program aims to influence how millions of teachers approach AI tools, though it faces significant skepticism from educators concerned about AI’s impact on critical thinking and academic integrity.

What you should know: The academy will operate from a New York City headquarters and focus on training teachers to use AI for both instruction and administrative tasks like lesson planning and report writing.

• The initiative is backed by the American Federation of Teachers (1.8 million members) and the United Federation of Teachers (200,000 New York members).
• Initial training sessions have already shown teachers how to use Microsoft’s AI tools for lesson planning and emails, according to the New York Times.
• The companies are pursuing this partnership as part of their broader strategy to expand AI adoption in education markets.

The evidence is mixed: Research presents conflicting findings about AI’s educational impact, with studies showing both benefits and drawbacks.

• A Harvard Graduate School of Education survey of 1,500 teens found students use AI for brainstorming and asking questions they’re hesitant to pose in class.
• Studies from Nigeria’s math classes to Harvard physics courses suggest AI tutors can increase student engagement.
• However, the same Harvard survey revealed widespread use of AI for cheating and shortcuts.
• Microsoft research found that relying on AI can reduce critical thinking skills, while AI “hallucinations”—instances where AI generates incorrect information—remain an inevitable challenge.

What educators are saying: Teachers and education experts express divided opinions about the initiative’s potential value.

• Christopher Harris, who leads library systems across 22 rural New York school districts, advocates for AI literacy curricula covering topics from smart speaker privacy for second graders to deepfakes for high schoolers.
• “The real outcome should be teachers that are confident enough in their understanding of how AI works and how it can be used as a tool that they can teach students about the technology as well,” Harris says.
• Helen Choi, a USC writing professor who signed a resistance letter with hundreds of other educators, argues: “Until we know that something is useful, safe, and ethical, we have a duty to resist mass adoption of tools like large language models that are not designed by educators with education in mind.”

Why this matters: The academy’s success could significantly shape how AI is integrated into American classrooms, potentially affecting millions of students’ educational experiences.

• Public perception currently views classroom AI use as potentially harmful to critical thinking and attention spans.
• The fundamental challenge extends beyond tool training to restructuring how schools evaluate student work in an AI-enabled environment.
• Harris emphasizes that “the bigger issue will be shifting the fundamental approaches to how we assign and assess student work in the face of AI cheating.”

The big picture: Tech companies are positioning themselves to capture the education market while facing legitimate concerns about AI’s educational impact and their own commercial motivations in promoting these tools.