Overview
- Verizon added $50 million to a prior $20 million commitment to create a $70 million program that funds free, occupation-tailored AI training delivered across the country.
- The company is partnering with nonprofit providers such as Goodwill to offer hands-on instruction through local centers and to help learners navigate practical career pathways.
- Training content will draw on resources from IBM, Google, Anthropic, Microsoft and OpenAI so courses teach applied AI skills employers are increasingly listing in job descriptions.
- CEO Dan Schulman urged other large corporations to match Verizon's funding, saying coordinated contributions from the Fortune 100 could scale the effort into a multibillion-dollar reskilling fund.
- The initiative targets job seekers, small businesses and educators and aims to reach hundreds of thousands of people by making AI competence a practical, teachable qualification.