Newsom, Google and tech partners sign MOUs to expand AI training across California

Governor Gavin Newsom and leaders from Google, Microsoft, Adobe and IBM signed five memoranda of understanding at a Google-hosted event in San Francisco to expand artificial intelligence education, teacher training and workforce pathways across the state.

The agreements, announced at the event and described by participants as memoranda of understanding (MOUs), link state higher-education systems — the California Community Colleges and the California State University system — with private-sector training, curricula and credentialing programs intended to accelerate AI literacy and job pathways.

"Google has proudly called California home for more than 2 decades," said the managing director of Google Public Sector's state and local government and education team, outlining Google offerings including no-cost AI training for Californians and a product-agnostic prompting course. The Google speaker also said Google announced "a billion dollar initiative funding AI education and AI literacy programs" yesterday and cited an economic-impact figure for 2024.

California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian said the community college system is central to the effort because of its reach, adding, "Learning is learning," and noting partnerships that give industry-recognized certificates college credit. California State University Chancellor Mildred García said the CSU is creating an "industry AI workforce acceleration board" and highlighted systemwide efforts such as internships, microcredentials and summer AI programs.

Microsoft, Adobe and IBM representatives described complementary commitments: Microsoft outlined an eight-region statewide boot camp series that will include foundational AI and cybersecurity training; Adobe said it will provide classroom-ready AI tools and curricula, including Adobe Express and its Firefly models; and IBM said it aims to expand access to AI training as part of a broader commitment to reach millions of learners by 2030.

Newsom framed the MOUs as part of a broader, multiyear strategy that includes procurement changes and a state sandbox for generative AI projects. "No other state is doing more on Gen AI, than the state of California," he said, describing new partnership models that move beyond traditional RFPs to iterative, demonstration-driven procurement (an "RF2" approach referenced at the event).

Newsom also discussed the state's regulatory and legislative work on AI, saying the administration has issued an earlier executive order and worked with a nonpartisan working group led by Fei-Fei Li. He said the administration has engaged on multiple AI bills in the California Legislature and emphasized concerns about deepfakes and election integrity as motivations for state-level action.

The signings were presented as administrative agreements rather than legislative actions; presenters described commitments of training, curriculum, tooling and pathways to credit, and said the MOUs establish best practices for teaching and professional development. Officials opened the floor for questions after the signings and arranged separate signing protocols for each MOU.

Officials repeatedly framed the agreements as partnerships between public institutions and private industry to expand access and to prepare students and educators for AI-related jobs and classroom uses. Participants said existing community-college enrollments and systemwide resources would be leveraged to reach students and faculty, though speakers did not provide a single consolidated implementation timeline or an overall budget allocation tied specifically to the signed MOUs.