OpenAI Aims to Embed Its AI Assistants Into Universities, Following the Footsteps of Google and Microsoft

• OpenAI aims to embed its AI assistants into universities as part of their core infrastructure, similar to Google and Microsoft’s approaches.
• The startup offers premium AI services to universities, including tools like chatbots, practice job interview tools, voice model tools, and quiz tools for students.
• Faculty members can build custom chatbots using ChatGPT by uploading course materials, such as lecture notes, slides, videos, and quizzes, into the platform.
• OpenAI’s sales pitch is called “AI-native universities,” with three clients already on board: the University of Maryland, California State University, and Duke University.
• The company offers a paid version of its chatbot service, ChatGPT Edu, which provides additional features like specific privacy protections and allows faculty and staff to create custom chatbots for use within the university.

Mikel Amigot, IBL News | New York

OpenAI is selling premium AI services to universities trying to “become part of the core infrastructure of higher education,” said Leah Belsky, OpenAI’s vice president of education and former manager at Coursera, in an interview with The New York Times [in the picture above].

At the same time, it’s running a marketing campaign targeting students and courting them as future customers — essentially as rivals like Google and Microsoft have been doing for years, pushing their computers and software into schools.

The startup envisions students graduating with their AI assistants and utilizing them throughout their careers in the workplace, like they do with their school-issued Gmail accounts.

On their side, Elon Musk’s xAI and Google have been offering free AI services for college students during the exam period.

Overall, OpenAI aims to embed its AI technology within universities by providing students with AI assistants to help tutor and guide them from orientation through graduation, featuring tools such as chatbots, practice job interview tools, voice model tools, and tools to quiz aloud ahead of a test.

Meanwhile, faculty members can build custom chatbots for their students by uploading course materials, such as lecture notes, slides, videos, and quizzes, into ChatGPT.

OpenAI’s sales pitch has been named “AI-native universities.”

Three of its clients are the University of Maryland, California State University (with 460,000 students across its 23 campuses), and Duke University (through a platform called DukeGPT).

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