Launching the expanded AI Classroom Toolkit with Cyberlite during Global Media and Information Literacy Week 

AI is opening new pathways to information, giving people faster access to answers, ideas, and knowledge. At the same time, it’s making it harder to know whether the content we see is authentic. 

Companies that build AI have a responsibility to make it reliable and trustworthy, and that responsibility doesn’t shift to the people who use it. But AI is already shaping how people search, learn, and encounter information. Helping people navigate that reality means building media and AI literacy (MAIL): the judgment to decide whether and how to use AI and what information to trust. These skills are as foundational as AI safety, and educators are asking for help teaching them. 

That’s why, during Global Media and Information Literacy Week, we’re launching the expanded AI Classroom Toolkit: Unlocking Generative AI Safely and Responsibly, created with the online safety organization Cyberlite. It’s part of Microsoft’s broader commitment to make sure AI strengthens human thinking rather than replaces it. It also reflects Microsoft’s focus on education and empowerment, a core pillar of our Safe Participation Framework. 

What’s new in the AI Classroom Toolkit

The expanded toolkit adds a deeper focus on critical thinking, verification, and media and AI literacy, helping students judge AI outputs and make informed decisions about what to trust online. Together with the original modules, it’s now a single, classroom-ready resource that covers the core of AI safety and literacy. Realistic, scenario-based lessons and activities help students practice these skills in situations they may encounter online: 

• The Climate Campaign: Gina enters an online challenge to make a campaign for a cause she cares about and finds that some winning entries use AI to show events that never happened. Students sort a feed of real and AI-made posts and practice lateral reading. The lesson: whether a post was made with AI doesn’t decide whether it’s trustworthy. What it claims, and who is behind it, does. 

• The Helpful Bot: Alex creates an AI help bot inside his online game, then catches it inventing details and collecting players’ personal information. Students learn why AI can get things wrong, how to trace claims to reliable sources, and why they’re responsible for AI-generated content they act on or share. 

• What Kind of AI User Are You?: An interactive quiz, hosted by Cyberlite, helps students identify their AI habits, strengths, and potential blind spots, and gives them an AI Type to reflect on and discuss. 

“When we created the first Classroom Toolkit: Unlocking Generative AI Safely and Responsibly with Microsoft in 2023, most of the conversation was about using AI safely. Today, the questions young people ask about AI have grown sharper and more personal, like what to believe online or how far to trust a chatbot’s answer,” said Michelle Yao, cofounder of Cyberlite. 

The toolkit also reflects what young people in our co-design sessions with Cyberlite told us: they want to learn by doing, through games, real-life scenarios, and peer discussion. Teachers don’t need to be AI experts, and students don’t need an AI tool in hand to start. 

That approach builds on the reach and results of the original toolkit. Since 2023, the first version has reached educators in 10 countries and 11 languages, including through government and partner learning platforms. In South Korea, 93% of participating educators reported improved knowledge and understanding of ethical issues, privacy, and bias related to AI. 

“Our hope is that every student leaves a little surer of their own judgment, and that everyone feels more confident deciding how AI fits into their lives,” said Yao. 

Literacy works alongside product design and policy

Education is one part of the equation. Our commitment to media and AI literacy also shows up in how we design products and the policies we support.  

Last month, we set out five principles for AI in education, including “AI designed to support students’ learning, not replace their thinking.” We also committed to enforceable privacy, safety, and transparency protections for qualifying educational AI products in US school districts. These protections help schools and families understand how these tools work and the controls available to them. 

Media and AI literacy is now a global priority

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has released a framework for a MAIL assessment beginning in 2029. As part of its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), it will examine how students reflect on, analyze, and evaluate information, including AI-generated information. This week in New Delhi, UNESCO is also launching an AI extension of its “Think Critically, Click Wisely” global curriculum, which Microsoft advised on. 

This growing global focus makes the need for support urgent—educators want help, and many aren’t getting it. In Microsoft’s 2026 AI in Education report, 53% of educators and 77% of students say they haven’t had AI training.  

Closing this skills gap matters beyond the classroom. Healthy societies depend on a shared basis of facts, informed public debate, and confident civic participation. As authenticity gets harder to judge, there’s a risk that people start doubting everything, creating what the Digital Inquiry Group calls a “dangerous declaration of permanent uncertainty.” MAIL offers a way through. It builds the confidence to decide what to trust. 

Media and AI literacy for every age

Across Microsoft, we’re helping people build these skills wherever they learn and find information: 

• In classrooms: Students debate whether to accept, question, or rework an AI tool’s answers in an AI and Critical Thinking lesson from The Economist Educational Foundation, supported by Microsoft. Available alongside other media literacy lessons in Microsoft Learning Zone, the lesson has reached students in 116 countries. 

• Through play: Millions of players have checked sources, spotted bias, and cracked cases of AI misuse in Minecraft Education’s The Investigators and Reed Smart: AI Detective. 

• For content creators: UNESCO, with Microsoft’s support, is developing resources to help creator associations train their members in MAIL and is testing them with creators in Nairobi this week.  

• For voters: Check. Recheck. Vote. helps people apply AI literacy to election information. 

• In our products: Search Progress, built with input from the Digital Inquiry Group, turns research assignments into source-checking practice in Microsoft Teams for Education. 

What’s next 

Through Microsoft Elevate for Educators and local partners, we’ll bring the AI Classroom Toolkit to new audiences, with more languages and localized content rolling out through 2027. We’ll keep evolving it as technology and educators’ needs change. 

Explore the toolkit and supporting resources for educators today.  

AI will keep changing how people find information and the content they encounter. Our goal is to help people meet that change with confident, informed judgment about the AI they use and the information they trust so they can fully take part in civic and democratic life. 

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The rapid diffusion of AI globally and the pace at which AI is developing put us at a societal crossroads. The choices we’re making now will determine who has access to AI and the opportunity it affords. There is perhaps no more important tool than our education systems for addressing the uneven diffusion of AI we’re seeing currently: national adoption runs above 70% in countries such as the United Arab Emirates and falls to low single digits across much of sub-Saharan Africa, close to a tenfold difference. 

The way we teach AI and learn with it will have long-lasting impacts on jobs, the workforce, and our broader economy. Learning Curves: Rethinking Education from Classrooms to Careers in an AI-Driven World is a collection of research-driven essays that can help guide those choices. This book brings together the body of work from the second cohort of Senior Fellows from the Microsoft AI Economy Institute (AIEI), a flagship think tank that produces research and convenes experts to generate insights into how AI is reshaping work, education, and the broader economy. 

In Learning Curves, researchers consider how AI is reshaping the earliest stages of learning and work, from K–12 classrooms and community and technical colleges to college‑to‑work transitions and entry‑level jobs, and what it will take for that transformation to widen opportunity rather than deepen divides across institutions, communities, and countries.  

Below, I share a few of my own reflections that informed my contributions to Learning Curves, a collaborative effort that wouldn’t have been possible without the truly talented, diverse cohort of researchers who contributed to this book.  

The good, the bad, and the ugly: Laying the foundation for AI in K–12 classrooms

Before delving into the specifics of how to incorporate AI in classrooms, we need to ask ourselves whether we’re teaching for knowledge, or for learning.  

The book, the calculator, the personal computer, the internet, the search engine, and the smartphone all arrived in classrooms carrying real promise alongside the worry that they would hollow out young minds. Usually the truth landed somewhere in between, and where it landed depended less on the tool than on the choices the adults made about how to use it. 

The fact is that the AI-native generation is already here, and its members are in classrooms around the world. More than half of US teenagers already use AI chatbots for schoolwork. I’ve personally seen the promise of AI as a force for good in education up close in my own classroom, where I teach a computer science class to elementary school students.  

But of course, the good is only part of the story. We can’t shy away from the downsides of incorporating AI into classrooms. While AI can help with accessibility and individualized learning, it can also create over–reliance, contribute to student cheating, or prevent students from recognizing when information may be false. 

The rapid deployment of AI in K–12 classrooms needs to come with a sober assessment of how that technology impacts all students. This assessment must go beyond the technology itself to encompass how students, teachers, parents, and society use AI.   

AI literacy is only part of the solution

If classrooms are where students learn how to think, teachers are the conduit through which this learning happens. In Learning Curves, Joseph Orero, Senior Researcher in AI at Strathmore University’s School of Computing and Engineering Science, posits that teachers aren’t resistant to AI in classrooms; they just need proper training to help them adequately adapt and teach their students critical skills. His research contribution explores game-based learning with AI-enabled African languages. 

AI usage and adoption worldwide are also dependent on accessibility. Another chapter of the book looks at barriers and opportunities in Arabic education and finds that the primary barrier teachers encountered when introducing AI writing assistants into classrooms was Arabic digital literacy, particularly students’ typing ability.  

Researchers often circled around a similar theme: there is no one-size-fits-all approach to developing AI competency; instead, such an approach must be sensitive to local knowledge and contextualized teaching and learning practices. This means that teachers, in turn, must have training that makes sense for the unique contexts in which their students are learning.  

Frank Nagle, now Microsoft’s Chief AI Economist, Sarah Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech, and other researchers in Learning Curves make the case that, in many ways, nontraditional pathways such as apprenticeships and two-year-degree programs, particularly those that are virtual, are more nimble and thus better able to adapt their curricula to the rapidly changing field of AI.  

AI Is taught in the classroom, but then what?

Education has never been about simply preparing people for the future of work so they can thrive in the labor market. When considered holistically, it is about teaching students not what to think but how to think. In our AI era, education is one of the core institutions through which the future of work will be built, distributed, and made more (or less) equitable. Successful AI integration remains human-centered by focusing on organizational change, durable human skills like empathy and judgment, strong employer partnerships, and learner needs. 

As research from Laura Nuriski, Head of Program on the Future of Work at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), highlights, access to AI alone does not ensure successful integration. Technology transfer, data infrastructure, organizational readiness, and a human-centered approach to building and deploying AI are also key indicators of success.  

Whether we’re talking about the classroom or the boardroom, it’s worth keeping in mind that AI tends to do the most good when it strengthens human capability and the most harm when it substitutes for it. That holds as true in a fourth- grade reading lesson as in a software team or a hospital ward. 

The children in our schools deserve tools that serve their learning rather than stand in for it, and that is within our power to provide. Our most successful future with AI will be one that is human-centered, inclusive, and designed to help people thrive. 

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The people and institutions closest to a community understand their needs best. Libraries, small businesses, nonprofits, and schools see firsthand where AI can create opportunity and where people need support to navigate change. At Microsoft, our role is to help these trusted institutions lead by providing practical resources, training, and clear safeguards that strengthen local capacity and put communities at the center of AI literacy and adoption. 

Public libraries have served as trusted centers of community learning across the United States for generations. Today, we are announcing a new initiative with the Public Library Association, a division of the American Library Association, to expand resources and no-cost AI literacy and skills training for public library workers and their patrons.  

This work delivers on the commitment we made earlier this year through our Community-First AI Infrastructure initiative: to expand access to AI learning and opportunity by investing directly in local training. We’re committed to neighborhood learning through libraries, free literacy training, and certification opportunities, age-appropriate learning in schools and colleges, and support for nonprofit and small-business workforces. This new library initiative is the latest example of our broader work to help trusted local institutions serve as entry points for AI learning, skills development, and opportunity. This program comes alongside small business accelerator programs in TechSpark, our new Elevate for Changemakers platform connecting nonprofits to resources, and our ongoing national and statewide work to bring safe and responsible AI to education. 

Local libraries lead AI learning in their communities 

The Public Library Association AI literacy initiative we are announcing today, Building AI Skills and Agency Through Libraries, is designed to build practical skills, critical awareness, and the judgment to use AI safely and appropriately. It will pair Microsoft’s AI skilling resources with PLA’s national network of expert practitioners to support library workers and community patrons as they navigate this rapidly evolving technology.  

The initiative will expand practical resources and training for library workers, create opportunities to learn from one another through a Community of Practice, and offer free webinars and guidance to support their work with patrons.  

Library workers help people navigate information, find learning resources, and make informed decisions for themselves and their families. Supporting those workers is a practical way to bring AI learning closer to people, while respecting the independence of the institutions they trust. 

The approach reflects a broader view of AI literacy: people need more than instructions for using AI tools; they also need the knowledge and judgment to decide whether, when and how those tools should be used. The training will help library workers and patrons understand how AI works and expand their skills, while also evaluating potential risks, protecting personal and confidential information, critically evaluating AI-generated claims and sources, and better understanding considerations related to safety and bias.   

Equipping trusted local institutions to lead responsible AI adoption 

Last July, we launched Microsoft Elevate, a company-wide initiative that brings together our work to help people and institutions build the skills and capacity to navigate AI responsibly. Under the Elevate charter, each year, Microsoft supports nearly one million nonprofit organizations and education systems worldwide with technology, training, grants and discounts. Microsoft Elevate for Educators, our global community of over 100,000 teachers and school leaders, recently recognized our inaugural group of 20 Beacon Schools and School Systems that are leading examples of AI transformation in education, bringing together effective AI practices while keeping educators and students first. They are powerful examples of what happens when you combine committed educators, AI-powered technology, and intentional, no-cost staff training.

In Washington, our Elevate commitment has included a $3 million, two-year investment supporting 10 school districts and 10 community and technical colleges with grants, coaching, and communities of practice. To date, the initiative has reached 29,375 educators, with early pilots in Kennewick and Everett helping teachers explore practical uses of AI while keeping professional judgment at the center. 

Skills and access must be matched by strong safeguards. In September, Microsoft joined the American Federation of Teachers to establish a national AI Safety & Privacy Standard for Schools, with enforceable protections for student and educator data, human oversight, and transparency for families. Beginning November 1, every US school district can request Microsoft to add these protections to a new or existing agreement, without waiting for renewal or renegotiation. 

That same commitment extends to nonprofit staff and leaders. The Elevate for Changemakers program has already supported over 18,000 learners, helping them build practical AI skills, connect with peers, and earn recognition for turning learning into tangible outcomes for their organizations. And today we are expanding the program and introducing a new, connected experience that brings training, resources, and community together.  

Together, these efforts reflect a simple principle: responsible adoption requires more than technology. Educators, nonprofit changemakers, and community leaders need time, training, trusted connections, practical support, and clear guardrails so they can decide when AI strengthens learning and, equally important, when it does not. 

Investing in locally led economic opportunity across all 50 states

For nearly a decade, Microsoft has partnered with local nonprofits and small businesses across the U.S. through our TechSpark program. 

Through Fellows grants, TechSpark pairs local expertise with Microsoft coaching and a national peer network to help nonprofits expand their impact in their local community and drive accelerated innovation for local small businesses. Today, Microsoft is announcing the new 2027 TechSpark Fellows across all 50 states and releasing the 2026 Fellows Impact Report showing what a locally led model can make possible.  

Over the last three years, the Fellows cumulatively report access to more than $298 million in community funding, 59,600 people trained and upskilled in AI literacy, and more than 1,500 nonprofit partners mobilized to advance their missions within their communities. These numbers tell an important story: no single organization can create lasting opportunity on its own, and local context matters.  

In Virginia, Rosie Riveters Executive Director Brittany Greer is showing what it looks like to build the human capabilities that innovation requires. Through hands-on STEM experiences, students build, test, and troubleshoot to develop the critical thinking, persistence, and independent judgment they will need to use AI thoughtfully. Her work is the kind of learning these partnerships are designed to strengthen.  

Community institutions know their neighbors, understand the barriers they face, and are best positioned to decide how new resources can serve them. 

An ongoing journey

The thread connecting a library worker, a job seeker, a TechSpark Fellow, and a teacher is not a particular product. It is the ability to make informed decisions with support from people and institutions they trust. Our responsibility is to make that support more useful, accessible, and human-centered, while being candid about what we have yet to learn. 

As we navigate the rapid pace of innovation in this AI era, our aim is not simply to bring AI into more places. It is to help people retain a stronger voice in what happens next, in their workplaces, their classrooms, and their communities. 

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The AI Economy Institute (AIEI) is launching its third cohort of researchers, advancing our mission to understand the adoption of artificial intelligence across economies, industries, and communities. 

We launched the AI Economy Institute because AI’s economic impact is not predetermined. Though AI is being rapidly adopted, the evidence base for understanding its impact on work, jobs, education, productivity, and opportunity is still too thin. By increasing the scholarship around the AI economy and producing it in a timely and accessible way, we can help ensure that as AI transforms our world, we’re equipping people with the knowledge and tools they need to make decisions and succeed with AI.

Our 2026 AI Economy Institute Cohort

The AI Economy Institute convenes outside experts and researchers to share their perspectives and advance the body of knowledge on topics related to AI, work, and education. Our third global research call centered on understanding how frontier firms are reshaping work and the broader economic landscape.  

Representing a diverse group of institutions worldwide, our cohort brings together subject matter experts and researchers to explore how AI is reshaping the workforce, organizations, and the broader economy. The cohort consists of the following individuals, representing the following institutions:    

• Brian Jabarian, Carnegie Mellon University 
• Caspar David Peter, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands 
• Christoph Siemroth, University of Essex, England 
• Daniel Yue, Georgia Institute of Technology 
• Edoardo Maria Acabbi, University of Mannheim, Germany 
• Frank Nagle, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Advising Fellow and Cohort 2) 
• Friederike Mengel, University of Essex, England; Erasmus University Rotterdam, Germany 
• Gianmarco Ottaviano, Bocconi University, Italy 
• Ilan Strauss, AI Disclosures Project 
• Johannes Wachs, Corvinus University, Budapest, Hungary 
• Luca Henkel, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands 
• Luca Mazzone, University of Montreal, Canada 
• Laura Nurski, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Belgium (Cohort 2) 
• Meeyoung (Mia) Cha, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea 
• Mustafa Afacan, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), United Arab Emirates; Sabancı University, Turkey (World Bank Affiliated Senior Fellow) 
• Nataliya Wright, Columbia University 
• Nuriye Melisa Bilgin, Koç University, Turkey 
• Pëllumb Reshidi, Florida State University 
• Pierre-Alexandre Balland, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Belgium (Advising Fellow and Cohort 2) 
• Salman Khan, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), United Arab Emirates (World Bank Affiliated Senior Fellow) 
• Serena Booth, Brown University 
• Wesley Rosslyn-Smith, University of Pretoria, South Africa (Advising Fellow) 
• Yingfei Wang, Foster School of Business, University of Washington 

Cohort members will analyze frontier firms to examine both upstream, firm-level transformations and downstream, economy-wide impacts. Researchers will also explore how AI changes job design, skill demands, productivity, and regional economic development.  

AIEI’s first two cohorts explored how AI is reshaping the talent pipeline, from higher education and skills to K-12, community colleges, and early-career pathways, so that we could understand and inform the early changes to the labor market. What we learned from that point of inquiry shifted the focus; this year’s cohort moves further into the economy itself, focusing on frontier firms and how leading organizations are adopting AI, redesigning work, and creating the conditions for productivity, diffusion, and human agency at scale.

Interpreting the frontier: What this means for policy and strategy  

Since its launch, the AI Economy Institute has fielded more than 800 responses to our calls for research proposals. The gap between what AI systems can do and what organizations can actually deploy will shape the pace of adoption. Gains in productivity may come alongside organizational shifts as firms adapt their workflows, teams, and decision-making processes.

At the same time, the expansion of automation raises a parallel question of whether systems are enhancing human learning or displacing it. Underlying all of this is a broader uncertainty about the extent to which AI will diffuse widely across economies or concentrate in a narrow set of firms and regions. 

Cohort 3 moves beyond identifying these tensions and toward generating the empirical evidence needed to navigate them, providing policymakers, firms, and institutions with a clearer basis for decision-making in a rapidly evolving AI economy. 

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Before tools, before frameworks, before hype, offensive security has always been about one thing: Thinking like an attacker. That foundation now defines the offensive AI security skills practitioners will need as AI reshapes the attack surface. AI systems introduce new behaviors and new failure modes, but the core mindset remains the same: understand how a

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To prepare the United Arab Emirates’ next generation for an AI-driven workforce, today we’re providing an update on our ambitious commitment to skill one million people across the UAE with an expansion of our global skilling initiative, Microsoft Elevate.

With Microsoft Elevate UAE we are making significant progress toward our goal with programs that will equip more than 250,000 students, staff, and faculty and more than 55,000 government employees with in-demand AI skills. Through sustained programs and new partnerships, Microsoft Elevate is providing advanced AI tools, in-demand credentials and comprehensive training to the region as we continue to work together to provide growth and opportunity for all.

As we shared earlier this week, Microsoft will invest USD 15.2 billion in the UAE before the end of this decade in a sustained commitment that brings together technology, talent, and trust to help the nation seize the opportunities of the AI era.

Together we will continue to ensure the region is uniquely positioned to harness this pivotal moment and remain at the forefront of AI use and innovation.

Advancing AI skills for the UAE’s next generation

As an update to our broader commitment to drive AI literacy and readiness across the UAE, Microsoft is announcing new partnerships with leading educational institutions and nonprofits to equip educators and students with essential AI skills and valuable credentials.

In close collaboration with the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications over the next year, we will provide training for more than 30,000 educators and 70,000 students across the UAE to ensure technology adoption is broad-based and that students are equipped to become leaders in AI for the future. Moreover, our technical graduate skilling program will upskill Emirati graduates, empowering them with the expertise needed to develop and train future AI models.

Our work with GEMS, the largest private school provider in the UAE, is embedding AI skills into all its schools and expanding training programs for 10,000 teachers and 150,000 students. This includes custom-built AI agents, Copilot workshops, and AI fluency programs for teachers, administrators, and students. Because preparing the future workforce starts with skilling educators, we are also focused on AI teacher readiness, with Copilot and Learning Accelerator access for almost 10,000 teachers and students in private schools across the UAE.

Through partnerships with nonprofits like INJAZ UAE, we are delivering AI Fundamentals courses to the UAE. The Skills Spot platform hosts signature courses for students, educators, and developers, credentialing over 58,000 learners in foundational AI skills, digital safety, and practical applications.

And in higher education, Microsoft has partnered with leading UAE institutions to deliver impactful skilling programs that empower both students and educators. Through collaborations such as the partnership with MBZUAI, which was awarded a Microsoft Economic AI Institute research fellowship, Microsoft is advancing AI literacy and research in the region. Microsoft has also established agreements focused on training with the Higher Colleges of Technology and UAE University. These programs are designed to equip participants with cutting-edge knowledge in artificial intelligence and digital skills, fostering innovation and enhancing the competitiveness of the UAE’s academic community. By investing in these trainings, Microsoft is helping to build a robust talent pipeline that supports the nation’s vision for a knowledge-based economy and positions graduates and educators to thrive.

Credentialing 55,000 UAE government employees and empowering future leaders

Last year, Microsoft partnered with UAE government entities to launch an initiative to upskill 120,000 government employees across the Federal Government, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah.

Today, we are announcing the next phase in our goal to equip public sector teams with AI skills that will help transform services, drive innovation, and prepare the workforce for the future

In partnership with G42, we have developed three specialized courses for government employees, delivered through the JAHIZ platform to ensure federal workers have a front-row seat in advancing their skills. This ambitious upskilling initiative for UAE federal government workers is designed to provide both foundational knowledge and real-world applications of AI for the public sector, with the goal of credentialing 55,000 federal employees over the next year. This investment in human capital will help ensure the UAE’s government is equipped to lead in digital transformation and meet the challenges of tomorrow with confidence.

We also know that preparing leaders for the future means going beyond technical skills. That’s why we continue to offer high-impact, in-person leadership development programs for government executives, CEOs, and senior decision-makers. Developed last year in collaboration with INSEAD, these tracks focus on strategic thinking, digital transformation, and the responsible adoption of AI. By building leadership capacity and fostering innovation, we are helping government entities across the UAE embrace change and realize the full potential of AI for the benefit of all. To date, we have partnered with INSEAD and learning partners locally to train 1,200 senior leaders across the UAE government and are proud to continue this effort to help strengthen the UAE’s position as a global leader in responsible AI governance.

Microsoft Elevate: A promise to the UAE

As AI and digital transformation reshape the world, closing the digital divide and expanding opportunities for all require collaboration across government, education, civil society, and industry. That’s why skilling is at the core of our commitment.

The UAE stands out as a leader in AI adoption, according to Microsoft’s AI Diffusion Technical Report. Yet, a significant skills gap remains, with more than 40% of working-age adults not yet using AI in the region. Initiatives like those we announced today in partnership with the Ministry of Education and others will continue to help address these gaps—and we are not done.

At Microsoft, we look forward to continuing our three decades of partnership across the region and bringing our capacity-building programs to the UAE through Microsoft Elevate. Our work together with local partners is not just a program; it is a promise to support the nation’s vision, empower its people, and help create universal opportunity.

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At Microsoft, we are driven by the belief that technology has the power to create opportunity and growth for everyone. This conviction inspired the creation of TechSpark, a nationwide program designed to expand economic opportunity in local communities, bridge digital gaps, and ensure everyone can participate in the digital future.

As AI continues to accelerate innovation nationwide, today we welcome the 2026 TechSpark Fellows whose visionary organizations are at the forefront of harnessing AI and cloud technology to drive transformative impact and empower their communities throughout the United States. In addition to honoring these incredible individuals and organizations, today we also announce the expansion of the TechSpark Fellows program as we launch a new Alumni program, which together creates a national network of community innovators and leaders who share best practices, resources, and ideas to ensure their communities can leverage the power of technology to thrive.

Since launching the TechSpark Fellows program in 2023, Fellow organizations have joined forces with Microsoft to bridge digital divides and spark innovation. Collectively, these Fellow organizations have secured more than $249 million in follow-on funding, trained over 34,000 individuals in AI, data literacy, and emerging technologies, and built partnerships connecting public, private, and nonprofit organizations with new digital tools.

With the introduction of the new 2026 TechSpark Fellows cohort, we are proud to continue building on our tradition of driving meaningful impact across the nation. Today, a TechSpark Fellow or Alumni leader can be found in every single state, as well as in more than 11 Microsoft data center communities. This widespread presence ensures that our efforts to make a difference in local communities are closely connected with our ongoing investments in infrastructure technology. By maintaining this strong network of leaders, we can foster community impact and support the growth of technology initiatives hand in hand, ensuring that progress and opportunity reach even more people across the United States.

The TechSpark program has made a significant difference in communities from California to New Jersey, across Georgia to Tennessee, and many places in between. These efforts have resulted in the creation of more than 5,100 jobs, the training of over 72,000 individuals in artificial intelligence and digital skills, and the mobilization of more than $728 million in community funding to support local projects.

 Welcoming the 2026 TechSpark Fellows

Each year, Microsoft TechSpark Fellows are appointed by nonprofit or community organizations that apply through a national call for participation. Each organization then receives a grant to support and scale their mission and can participate in a robust, seven-month learning and development experience designed to advance AI skilling, innovation, and adoption to support opportunity within their community.

TechSpark Fellows from these organizations are already shaping projects that range from empowering women to reenter the workforce through AI upskilling to building rural digital academies to advancing youth coding and data science programs.  Below are just a few inspiring examples of this year’s TechSpark Fellows and the unique ways they are driving positive change in their communities:

The Illinois Science & Technology Coalition and Institute  

The Illinois Science & Technology Coalition and Institute is strengthening the job pipeline in Illinois by connecting high school students with industry mentors for months-long, hands-on projects that reflect real workforce needs. Students work directly with professionals, including Microsoft mentors, on challenges tied to current industry priorities, gaining the skills, confidence, and experience needed to pursue careers in STEM fields. Through participation in the TechSpark Fellows program, the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition and Institute aims to expand opportunities for more schools and students across Illinois—deepening industry partnerships, strengthening hands-on learning, and preparing young people for future careers in STEM fields.

Climb Wyoming  

Climb Wyoming transforms lives by helping low-income single mothers discover their full potential through integrated career training, mental health support, and meaningful employment with local employers. In Wyoming, single mothers and their children experience the highest rates of poverty in the United States, making Climb’s work both urgent and essential. The program provides immediate support and pathways to economic independence. On average, Climb graduates more than double their income two years after the program—a 121% increase in wages.  As a TechSpark Fellow, Climb Wyoming looks to learn how to leverage AI and digital skilling to enhance career training for the women they serve.

Compudopt Georgia 

 Compudopt is closing the digital divide for families nationwide by providing free laptops and comprehensive tech education programs, from first graders to seniors. In 2025, Compudopt celebrated reaching one million people, offering digital literacy training that empowers entire households to thrive in a connected world. As part of the TechSpark Fellows program, Compudopt wants to learn how  AI can further strengthen their mission, exploring new ways AI can enhance digital skilling, expand access, and help families unlock opportunities for work, learning, and daily life.

Building AI readiness for all

As we look to the future, we believe our responsibility is to continue to empower others and support their missions. The TechSpark Fellows program is just one way that we can leverage the power of technology and community to ensure that the promise of AI reaches every community across America. The progress made through TechSpark—helping leaders secure resources, equipping individuals with critical skills, and fostering innovation—demonstrates what’s possible when we work together.

The contrast in AI use across  the United States reveals not just a disparity in adoption but a fundamental challenge in ensuring that AI brings people together rather than widening existing divides. Achieving an inclusive  AI economy will require ongoing collaboration with local leaders, nonprofits, policymakers, and peers in the private sector.

TechSpark has shown that community and local leaders are the biggest assets in ensuring their home states, hometowns, and neighbors thrive. By listening deeply, partnering with purpose, and building strong connections with local changemakers, we can make certain that everyone has the tools, opportunities, and support to thrive in the AI era.

For more insights and resources, visit the TechSpark Playbook and the TechSpark Impact Report.

The post Announcing the 2026 Microsoft TechSpark Fellows appeared first on Microsoft On the Issues.

AI has introduced a transformative era in scientific discovery. In the hands of researchers, innovators, and startups, it is accelerating breakthroughs from advancing medical research to powering new manufacturing capabilities and energy transitions.  

For Microsoft, the real promise of AI emerges when we bring our powerful tools together with problem solvers in local communities. For the past eight years, Microsoft has been sharing knowledge and collaborating with communities to unlock opportunity through Microsoft TechSpark, an economic development, skilling, and community-building program across the US. Since its inception, TechSpark has helped create more than 4,500 jobs and contributed more than $700 million in community funding to support local initiatives. 

Today, we’re announcing a new milestone in our TechSpark program: a pioneering partnership with leading innovation centers—TitletownTech, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the New Jersey (NJ) AI Hub, in partnership with Princeton University. Together, we’re launching a new model for scientific collaboration that combines the agility of a startup, the expertise of a university, and the technology of a global company.  

Through this partnership, Microsoft will provide the Microsoft Discovery platform to TitletownTech and NJ AI Hub and access to the latest advancements in AI and high-performance computing that promise to accelerate scientific discovery. We believe this kind of alliance is essential to ensure that breakthroughs in science and solutions to global challenges are not confined to a few but shared broadly for the benefit of all.

A new model for scientific discovery 

Researchers and innovators from these organizations will have an opportunity to access Microsoft Discovery, an advanced agentic AI platform designed to accelerate scientific breakthroughs. They will also benefit from the expertise of the Microsoft Discovery and Quantum team, under the leadership of Jason Zander. Currently available only in private preview, this opportunity enables researchers to leverage state-of-the-art AI and high-performance computing to collaborate with a team of specialized AI agents combined with a graph-based knowledge engine to drive scientific outcomes with speed, scale, and accuracy. 

Through Microsoft Discovery, researchers can speed up scientific discovery by analyzing vast amounts of data, simulating experiments, and uncovering new materials and solutions more efficiently. The platform facilitates effective collaboration, bringing together teams of specialized AI agents and human experts for continuous, iterative investigation. This dynamic environment helps organizations refine their knowledge, learn from their results, and innovate in ways that were previously unimaginable. 

What makes this partnership unique is its focus on real breakthroughs in chemistry, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and AI-driven innovation. Building on years of TechSpark collaboration, this initiative is not just another corporate research and development center or a one-off research grant. Instead, we are creating a shared undertaking, deeply rooted in engagement with local communities and aligned around the promise of AI. By blending the strengths of top research universities with the cutting-edge infrastructure of the NJ AI Hub and TitletownTech Labs and Microsoft’s role as an industry convener, we hope to set the stage for transformative progress. 

Collaborating for real-world impact 

While we are still in the early days of what’s possible, we are dedicated to discovering what can be achieved when our institutions work together to accelerate science and innovation.  

This technology could be a game-changer for environmental challenges like plastic waste. For example, Microsoft Discovery can enable modeling of complex chemical reactions, unlocking new pathways for catalyst design in recycling systems. This would enable more efficient, selective, and controlled recycling processes, fewer costly lab experiments, and faster innovation. In the future, advances like these could empower researchers to turn plastic waste into valuable resources. 

In Microsoft’s own labs, the integration of high-performance computing and AI into Microsoft Discovery is already unlocking new scenarios. For instance, our researchers used Discovery’s advanced AI systems and HPC capabilities to discover a novel sustainable coolant prototype for datacenter immersion cooling—moving from digital discovery to synthesis in just four months. 

Looking ahead 

We are putting the Microsoft Discovery platform into the hands of innovators, like those at TitletownTech and the NJ AI Hub, to fuel innovation and demonstrate real-world impact. 

In the coming weeks, we will work to enable access to Microsoft Discovery for these labs under the private preview, and as we roll out the Discovery platform availability to the public, we will continue to work with these partners and other researchers and universities to ensure we expand opportunity for scientific discovery through AI.  

It’s only with a strong ecosystem that we’ll be able to realize the full potential of Microsoft Discovery, and it’s why we’re working with these partners and others to bring first-party advancements together with leading industry tools and domain expertise. 

With this new chapter for our TechSpark partners, we reaffirm our commitment to championing innovation and discovery alongside the brilliant local innovators across Wisconsin and New Jersey. Together, we look forward to shaping the future of science for everyone.

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