• by Tanya Gazdik , July 13, 2025

Microsoft will donate $4 billion worth of cash, technology and training to enhance artificial intelligence education for schools, colleges and nonprofits, the company announced last week.

“The $4 billion effort over the next five years will flow through a new organization within the company called Microsoft Elevate, which the company describes as a successor and expansion of the longtime Microsoft Philanthropies team,” according to The Seattle Times, which notes the donation comes a week after layoffs at the company linked to AI cost. “Elevate will have about 300 employees, with the goal of helping more than 20 million people earn AI credentials.”

Microsoft is the maker of the AI-powered Copilot chatbot, which  is designed to integrate with Microsoft's ecosystem, particularly Microsoft 365 apps.

“Microsoft did not immediately specify how much of the more than $4 billion the company planned to dispense as grants and how much of it would be in the form of Microsoft A.I. services and cloud computing credits,” according to The New York Times. “The announcement comes as tech companies are racing to train millions of teachers and students on their new A.I. tools. Even so, researchers say it is too soon to tell whether the classroom chatbots will end up improving educational outcomes or eroding important skills like critical thinking.”

In a blog post, Microsoft outlined how it wants to support 20 million people by upskilling them with AI tools to support future working environments, starting at a young age.

“The goal isn’t to build machines that replace us — it’s to build machines that help us do more and do it better,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith in the post announcing the initiative. 

The initiative expands on the company’s prior philanthropic work, including its Tech for Social Impact program.

“As part of the scheme, Microsoft will be collaborating with governments to help launch its Elevate Academy to provide AI training right from foundation levels to more advanced skillsets,” according to Techradar. "The company will also work with OpenAI, Anthropic and the American Federation of Teachers to create the National Academy for AI Instruction, investing $23 million over five years to train 400,000 teachers in AI skills to help them integrate the tech into classrooms.”

The announcement comes a week after Microsoft confirmed it would cut 4% of its workforce — about 9,000 jobs globally.

“Since mid-May, the company has cut about 15,000 jobs worldwide, including over 3,100 in Washington state,” according to Geekwire. “Microsoft hasn’t specifically connected the layoffs to AI, but they come as artificial intelligence reshapes roles across engineering, sales and product teams, and as the company ramps up spending on cloud and AI infrastructure — a record $80 billion in the last fiscal year.”