Google announced $10 million to the Manufacturing Institute (MI), the workforce development and education affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers. The funding will support the MI in developing AI skills training programs for manufacturing workers and expand employer-led apprenticeship programs via the MI’s Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME USA).
The initiative is part of Google.org’s AI Opportunity Fund that helps Americans learn AI skills at no cost in collaboration with workforce development and education organizations across the country.
“So much of the narrative around AI and the workplace is fear-based,” MI President Carolyn Lee said. “One thing we’ve learned in manufacturing time and again is that as new technologies are introduced, it is essential to ensure our workers build the skills needed to engage. AI is transforming our world, and preparing our workers to engage and deploy these tools will set them and manufacturers up for success.”
Google.org’s funding will enable the MI to develop two new courses for shop floor workers: AI 101 for Manufacturing and Advanced AI for Manufacturing Technicians. The 101 course will contextualize existing AI training from Google specifically for the manufacturing environment, while the AI for Advanced Manufacturing Technicians course will be newly developed by the MI. The funding will help the MI provide Google’s new AI Professional Certificate to current and future manufacturing workers at no cost.
As part of the initiative, the MI will also launch new FAME chapters in at least 15 new regions, while developing and embedding the AI for Advanced Manufacturing Technicians course across all FAME chapters. The FAME program currently helps build talent pipelines for manufacturers in 46 hubs nationwide.
Additionally, Google.org will support the mikeroweWORKS Foundation to provide Work Ethic Scholarships to FAME students, a program that will offer financial assistance to eligible participants completing their manufacturing programs.
Google recently announced a similar effort with the electrical training ALLIANCE to train electrical workers throughout the country.
