USC Renames Computing School After $200 Million Stevens Gift

Overview

• USC said Tuesday that Mark and Mary Stevens gave $200 million to expand artificial intelligence across the university.
• The School of Advanced Computing will take the name USC Mark and Mary Stevens School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence.
• The university will use the funds to recruit faculty who apply AI in medicine, security, business, entertainment, and other disciplines.
• Leaders say the work will center human values, with a university AI committee drafting classroom, integrity, and ethics guidance.
• Some professors warn that tools like ChatGPT can weaken critical thinking and call for course-specific rules, while the gift joins a wave of large AI donations that includes $750 million to UT Austin and $100 million to UW–Madison.