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Google to invest $120 million in AI education programs

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Google faces regulatory scrutiny in AI, advertising, and

search

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Google partners with colleges for AI job training programs

By Kenrick Cai

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 25 - Alphabet's Google,

already facing an unprecedented regulatory onslaught, is looking

to shape public perception and policies on artificial

intelligence ahead of a global wave of AI regulation.

A key priority, one executive told Reuters, comes in

building out educational programs to train the workforce on AI.

"Getting more people and organizations, including

governments, familiar with AI and using AI tools, makes for

better AI policy and opens up new opportunities - it's a

virtuous cycle," said Kent Walker, Alphabet's president of

global affairs.

As Google races to best Big Tech rivals including

Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed OpenAI and Meta in the AI

arena, it is mindful of the heavy regulatory scrutiny it faces

in its existing businesses in advertising and search.

In the European Union, Google has offered to sell a part of its

ad tech business to appease regulators, Reuters reported. In the

U.S., the Justice Department is attempting to force a breakup of

its Chrome Web browser - though it may shift course under the

administration of President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, governments globally are drafting new regulations on

issues that could be exacerbated by AI, such as copyright and

privacy. The EU AI Act, which seeks to assess risk and require

disclosures from general-purpose AI systems, has received

pushback from tech giants that could find themselves in the

crosshairs of multibillion-dollar fines.

The DOJ has also sought to curtail Google's advances in AI as a

remedy in a federal case that found its search business to be an

illegal monopoly.

Google executives see an opportunity to shape the narrative

around a technology that has stoked emerging fears of mass job

loss.

CEO Sundar Pichai announced in September a $120 million

investment fund to build AI education programs. Deputies

including Walker and Ruth Porat, president and chief investment

officer, are increasingly traveling globally to discuss policy

recommendations with governments.

"There's a lot of upside in terms of helping people who may

be displaced by this. We do want to focus on that," Walker said.

Efforts include expanding Grow with Google, a website that

teaches workers skills like data analysis or IT support that are

meant to expand their career prospects in technical fields. In

December, the company said 1 million people had obtained a

certificate for the program. It is adding specialized courses

related to AI, such as one geared toward teachers, said program

head Lisa Gevelber.

Courses alone are not enough to prepare workers, Walker

said. "What really matters is if you have some sort of objective

that people are working towards, like a credential that people

can use to apply for a job."

Google wants to increase experimentation on public-private

partnerships, he said. The leading example so far, he said, is

the "Skilled Trades and Readiness" program, in which the company

has partnered with community colleges to train workers for

potential jobs constructing data centers. Google is

incorporating AI education into the program, he said.

"Ultimately, the federal government will look and see which

proofs of concept are playing out - which of the green shoots

are taking root," Walker said. "If we can help fertilize that

effort, that's our role."

In the long term, Walker said he expects a small fraction of

existing jobs to be entirely displaced by AI, citing several

studies commissioned by Google, Goldman Sachs and McKinsey.

Those studies suggest AI will be incorporated into most jobs in

some capacity.

As part of Google's efforts to prepare for this shift, it

hired economist David Autor as a visiting fellow to study the

impacts of AI on the workforce. Autor said in an interview that

AI could be used to create more immersive training programs,

akin to flight simulators.

"The history of adult retraining is not particularly

glorious," he said. "Adults don't want to go back to class.

Classroom training is not going to be the solution to a lot of

retraining."