NVIDIA Corp. and California have teamed to train state workers, teachers and students on AI in the nation’s first partnership of its kind.
The accord, first reported by Politico, comes as generative AI faces — NVIDIA in particular — face more scrutiny from regulators. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is shepherding a push to use AI and burnish the Golden State’s standing as a mecca for innovation. Last year, he issued an executive order to explore how the state can use AI and minimize risks. Conversely, the state legislature is considering a bill that mandates safety testing for large AI models.
Similar deals are expected to be expanded to the University of California and California State University systems, as well as other tech companies in the future, according to the Newsom administration.
Newsom has been singing the praises of NVIDIA, an early leader in the genAI race, and called the technology “the fourth industrial revolution” during his State of the State address in June.
“Anything that shows that California is invested in the workforce, it’s a good message to the employers to think about, where do you find talent,” Amy Tong, secretary of government operations for California, told Politico.
The NVIDIA-California partnership is designed to train workers and educators on how to apply AI across everything from agriculture to health care. NVIDIA also agreed to work with California community colleges to create curriculum, develop AI labs and works, and promote the use of AI statewide.
California’s collaboration with NVIDIA is striking, given the state’s aggressive stand on tech privacy as well as news the Department of Justice has launched an investigation into NVIDIA following complaints from competitors that it abused market dominance with its AI-powered chips.
At the same time, the Silicon Valley company has acquired four companies this year, matching its 2020 total. Its latest deal, to buy Run.ai, has been slowed by regulatory scrutiny.
The Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department are training their antitrust sights on AI leaders NVIDIA, Microsoft Corp., and OpenAI, according to multiple reports.
