Google Plans AI Training Push Amid Changing Global Regulations

Google is reportedly planning a global push to train workers on artificial intelligence (AI).

It’s part of a broader effort by the tech giant to shape policies and perceptions ahead of an uptick in AI regulation, Reuters reported Saturday (Jan. 25).

“Getting more people and organizations, including governments, familiar with AI and using AI tools, makes for better AI policy and opens up new opportunities — it’s a virtuous cycle,” Kent Walker, Alphabet’s president of global affairs, told Reuters.

According to the report, Google’s efforts include an expansion of Grow with Google, an online and in-person program that offers training tools for businesses and teaches workers skills such as data analysis or IT support to expand their career prospects in technical fields.

Last month, Google said 1 million people had gotten a certificate for the program, which will soon include AI-related coursework. However, Walker noted that courses by themselves aren’t enough to prepare workers.

“What really matters is if you have some sort of objective that people are working towards, like a credential that people can use to apply for a job,” he said.

Meanwhile, the report said Google has also hired economist David Autor as a visiting fellow to study the effects of AI on the workforce. Autor told Reuters that AI could be used to develop more immersive training programs, similar to flight simulators.

“The history of adult retraining is not particularly glorious,” he said. “Adults don’t want to go back to class. Classroom training is not going to be the solution to a lot of retraining.”

The report said Google is facing regulatory pressure on two fronts: from its longtime search and advertising business, and from new efforts by governments around the world to rein in AI companies.

However, the regulatory landscape could be changing in the U.S., with President Donald Trump last week repealing predecessor Joe Biden’s 2023 AI regulations on his first day in office.

Biden’s executive order had required the federal government to vet the advanced AI models of major developers like Amazon and Google, while also creating chief AI officers in major federal agencies and creating frameworks that addressed ethical and security risks.

“Trump’s reversal marks a significant policy shift that is lighter on regulations and guardrails and more pro-growth and pro-innovation,” PYMNTS wrote. “However, it is unclear how his repeal of Biden’s executive order will be enacted on the grounds that federal agencies that already have instituted such policies. Notably, Trump established the first executive order on AI during his first term in office.”