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The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), alongside the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic, announced the National Academy for AI Instruction on July 8, 2025. This $23 million initiative will provide free AI training to 1.8 million AFT members, starting with K-12 educators, through a cutting-edge Manhattan facility. The program aims to empower teachers to integrate AI ethically, addressing the gap in accessible AI education and setting a national standard for AI-enhanced teaching.
The National Academy for AI Instruction, based at UFT’s Manhattan headquarters, will offer workshops, online courses, and hands-on training to equip educators for an AI-driven future. The program prioritizes ethical AI use, ensuring teachers remain central to education. AFT President Randi Weingarten stated, “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.” Over five years, it aims to train 400,000 educators, reaching over 7.2 million students.
This pioneering partnership, backed by Microsoft ($12.5 million), OpenAI ($10 million), and Anthropic ($0.5 million), builds on a 2023 Microsoft-AFL-CIO initiative. Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair, noted, “To best serve students, we must ensure teachers have a strong voice in the development and use of AI.” The academy will provide credential pathways and continuing education credits, fostering AI literacy and ethical reasoning in classrooms, particularly in underserved districts where only 39% of high-poverty schools currently offer AI training.
Teachers like Marlee Katz, who supports deaf and hard-of-hearing students, see AI as a tool to enhance communication. “These tools are like a best friend that can help you communicate,” Katz said. Vincent Plato, a veteran educator, added, “AI assists with educator workflow. It can be a thought partner when they’re working by themselves, whether that’s late-night lesson planning, looking at student data, or filing any types of reports.” The academy ensures AI supports, not supplants, educators, with innovation labs refining tools based on classroom feedback.
This initiative, inspired by AFT member Roy Bahat, positions educators as leaders in AI integration, ensuring equitable access to AI skills and preparing students for a technology-driven future.
The AFT represents 1.8 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.
Microsoft creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company with a mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that creates reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. Anthropic's flagship product is Claude, a large language model trusted by millions of users worldwide. Learn more about Anthropic and Claude at anthropic.com.
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