Google Provides 100,000 AI Training Scholarships in More Than 80 Countries

Students, teachers, job seekers and public servants in more than 80 countries are set to gain new routes into AI training after Google committed 100,000 certificate scholarships through the International Telecommunication Union’s AI Skills Coalition.

The scholarships are meant to make practical, hands-on training available to people with no technical background. Google is placing the offer in the AI Skills Coalition, a partner-led initiative under the ITU’s AI for Good program, rather than treating it as a standalone course giveaway.

100,000Scholarships

Google is providing 100,000 AI-skills certificate scholarships through the ITU’s AI Skills Coalition.

80+Countries

The scholarships are intended for participants in more than 80 countries.

200+Course catalogue

The coalition catalogue includes more than 200 courses alongside the scholarship offer.

A global offer with local tailoring

Training will move through local governments and the ITU-UNICEF Giga network, which supports governments’ efforts to connect every school. Local leaders and national ministries can tailor training to workforce priorities, rather than use the same approach in every community.

Who the programs are built to reach

• Students and teachers seeking practical AI skills for learning and classroom work.
• Job seekers, entrepreneurs and small-business owners looking for recognized credentials.
• Civil servants whose training can be shaped around local workforce priorities.

Skills are a barrier alongside connectivity

The ITU estimates that 1.2 billion people worldwide still need basic digital-skills training, while another 311 million need above-basic training. That gap is far larger than this scholarship pool, helping explain why the partners are pairing AI access with instruction instead of treating an internet connection as enough.

Google cites Ipsos and Google research finding that hands-on training can make people up to four times more likely to feel confident using new AI tools. Confidence is not the same as sustained use or better employment outcomes, but it is the immediate result the program’s practical format is designed to influence.

Enrollment is only the first measure

Google and participating countries say they will track scholarship activation and utilization, learner participation and completion, certificates earned, and reach among priority groups. They also plan to examine how learners apply their training in education, employment and public service. The key test is whether people finish the training, earn certificates and use the skills day to day.

For now, this is a scholarship offer with a stated delivery arrangement and a plan to measure results, not evidence of outcomes. Its central bet is that a shared course catalogue can still meet local workforce needs when leaders and ministries tailor the training.