Nvidia, Utah partner up to boost AI training

The news: Nvidia and the state of Utah are working together to address the dearth of AI training in the workforce, per VentureBeat.

• The partnership will provide generative AI (genAI) training at universities, community colleges, and adult education programs.
• Utah educators will gain certification through the Nvidia Deep Learning Institute University Ambassador Program.

The Nvidia-Utah program will help address the needs of workers already in the field as well as recent graduates looking for their first jobs.

The goal: “By equipping students and researchers with the tools to explore, understand and create with AI, we empower them to be able to drive advancements in medicine, engineering, and beyond,” said Manish Parashar, director of the University of Utah Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute.

Why is this necessary? The opportunities to advance genAI knowledge are lacking in the workforce.

• 28% of CFOs worldwide believe increasing upskilling or re-skilling opportunities are important in their 2025 strategies, per BDO’s “2025 CFO Outlook Survey: The New Growth Agenda.”
• Only 6% of banks have begun upskilling their workforce on genAI, per January 2024 BCG research.
• 56% of US marketing executives rely on formal training outside of the company for AI knowledge, per Lightricks.

Our take: Upskilling the workforce is more important than ever in an AI-driven world. The partnership between Nvidia and Utah is a step in the right direction.

While several Big Tech companies, including Google and Amazon, offer free AI courses, they can take the next step by forming partnerships with state-run education departments or even entire countries to boost AI skills. That would ease the burden on individual companies and boost consistency in genAI training.