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The state of California is pairing up with Nvidia for a first-of-its-kind AI training program.
As a release from the office of Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday explained, the program is designed to provide technical guidance, mentorship, and access to advanced hardware. The initiative focuses on three things:
- Training students, educators, and workers
- Supporting job creation and promoting innovation
- Using AI to solve challenges that can improve the lives of Californians
The initiative is part of an executive order by Newsom that aims to make California a leader in AI and technology overall. Last month, California digitized 42 million car titles on the blockchain as part of the same executive order.
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100,000 residents will participate in the training, which hopes to create “a pipeline to drive the innovations of the future” and address challenges like traffic congestion and language accessibility.
A primary goal of the program is to bring Nvidia resources into community colleges, including curriculum, certifications, software, and bootcamps, so that students can learn how to use AI to help get in-demand jobs. By introducing workshops and labs to students who wouldn’t otherwise have access, the program aims to open up new career pathways that could benefit not only students, but California as a whole.
In addition, government representatives will choose certain community college faculty to take part in special AI ambassador programs.
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On the jobs front, Nvidia will provide technical guidance and mentorship. At the same time, California will support early-stage AI startups to create AI “innovation zones” and job hubs, and will hold hackathons or design sprints that showcase practical applications of AI. California will also adopt skills and training for state careers, including new roles for government AI specialists.
“We’re in the early stages of a new industrial revolution that will transform trillion-dollar industries around the world,” said Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang. “Together with California, Nvidia will train 100,000 students, college faculty, developers, and data scientists to harness this technology to prepare California for tomorrow’s challenges and unlock prosperity throughout the state.”
California has already unveiled AI training for state employees, held a GenAI summit, and created a GenAI toolkit for procurement along with other programs.