The partnerships, announced during a livestreamed event in San Francisco, target California’s public education system. The agreements aim to modernize curricula, support faculty development and connect students with internships and hands-on AI training opportunities. In addition to higher-ed partnerships, several of the programs include AI training for high school teachers and generative AI tools for use in grades nine through 12.
Under the agreement, Google is providing access to AI-focused training courses — one for students on effective prompting, and one for educators on using generative AI to personalize instruction, aid administrative tasks and enhance classroom engagement.
Adobe is offering access to tools like Adobe Express and its generative AI platform Firefly, as well as curriculum materials and professional development resources for teachers.
Microsoft’s contribution includes a statewide rollout of AI and cybersecurity boot camps through California’s community college system. According to CSU Chancellor Mildred García, Microsoft will also work with CSU career centers to build career advising that better prepares students to transition from college to the workforce.
IBM’s partnership centers on expanding access to its SkillsBuild platform, which offers free training in AI, data science and cybersecurity.
“The next workforce of the world … is going to be an AI-empowered workforce,” Dinesh Nirmal, senior vice president of products at IBM Software, said in the livestreamed announcement. “How do we train the students? How do we help the teachers and educators? And finally, how do we make sure the accessibility and the opportunities are available for everyone?”
The company is working with community colleges to incorporate short-term credential programs and support regional AI labs. IBM has committed to providing tech skills to 30 million people worldwide by 2030.
The agreements involve no exchange of funds, only voluntary sharing of resources and expertise. At the system level, California’s higher-education institutions are integrating these offerings into strategic planning. The CSU-Industry AI Workforce Acceleration Board, formalized under the agreement, will bring together state officials, AI industry partners and the CSU system. The group will guide workforce development and ensure students graduate with career-relevant AI competencies.
García said the CSU system is developing a career portal to help connect students with industry partners for internship opportunities.
“We're aiming the CSU to be a global leader for four-year universities for an empowered AI higher-education system," he said at the event.
Similarly, California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian said the system has already integrated AI tools like Microsoft Copilot and Gemini NotebookLMs, as well as credit-bearing Google certificates and Microsoft cybersecurity boot camps.
“Our faculty need to be engaged with these tools to offer the curriculum and the pedagogy that is suitable for the 21st century,” she said.
While the immediate focus is on education and workforce development, Newsom made clear that these agreements are part of a broader strategy that includes AI regulation. He said he has signed 18 AI-related bills on misinformation and transparency alongside work with tech companies to address workforce needs.
Last year, for example, Newsom partnered with NVIDIA and California Community Colleges to bring the tech company’s insights into development of AI laboratories, AI curricula, certifications, degree programs and professional development.
Since then, Newsom emphasized that the need for AI development has only grown, and education institutions like CSUs and community colleges will play a big role in filling that need.
“There are simply no systems like it anywhere in the United States of America,” he said. “This is the backbone of our workforce and economic development in California, the tentpole of the U.S. economy. So today is an important day. It's a milestone, but it's also a recognition that the world, in many ways, we invented is now competing against us, and we’ve got to step up our game.”
