New AI Grants Program to Fund AI Infrastructure for K–12 Education

Digital Promise has announced the launch of the K-12 AI Infrastructure Program, a multi-year initiative "aiming to close the gap between scientific principles of teaching and learning and the promise of generative artificial intelligence."

The program, supported by core partners Learning Data Insights, DrivenData, Massive Data Institute at Georgetown University, and Catalyst @ Penn GSE, will issue $26 million in grants over the next four years to develop openly shared datasets, models, benchmarks, and other foundational AI infrastructure. The resulting resources will be openly licensed for free use to improve the use of AI for teaching and learning, according to a news announcement.

"By funding the creation of public goods, we will accelerate the development of AI products that reflect the needs of all learners, the power of learning science principles, and the rigor of education-specific AI applications," explained Jeremy Roschelle, executive director of Digital Promise's Center for Learning Sciences Research, in a statement.

Digital Promise has issued a request for information that invites the public to comment on key challenges to be addressed, types of dataset, models, or benchmarks that are most needed, and other resources that could advance K–12 AI applications. The grant-making process will launch in early 2026.

For more information, visit the Digital Promise site.

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

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