Verizon on September 23 launched AI Skills for America, a $70 million free-training initiative that bundles AI coursework from IBM, Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, OpenAI and Coursera and pairs it with in-person coaching from Goodwill, LISC and NACCE.
The Money And The Mix
The program combines $20 million in existing Verizon commitments with $50 million in fresh funding. Verizon says the aggregated curriculum would typically cost participants more than $700 per person per year on the open market. Local coaching comes through Goodwill, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE).
Big Tech's Playbook For Adoption
Bundled learning tracks come from Google, IBM, Microsoft, Anthropic, OpenAI and Coursera. That mix is unusual: proprietary training programs from Microsoft and Google rarely appear alongside OpenAI's and Anthropic's newer materials. For each vendor, AI Skills for America is a distribution channel into Verizon's roughly 100,000-employee footprint and its retail-facing customer base.
Why Now
The launch lands the same week the U.S. Senate held hearings on AI displacement of entry-level roles. According to a survey published by CNBC earlier this month, 19% of U.K. leaders said their companies had cut entry-level positions and 42% attributed the reduction to AI. Verizon frames AI Skills for America as reskilling infrastructure for workers on the wrong side of that curve.
Related coverage: Anthropic says Claude leads 26% of its own R&D, OpenAI's cheaper Sol and Luna models, and Google's family AI agent.
Reporting based on coverage from Verizon, QZ, CNBC and industry announcements on September 23, 2026.