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Verizon announced a total investment of USD 70 million in its new ‘Verizon AI Skills for America' initiative, aimed at helping job seekers, early-career professionals, displaced workers, educators, and small businesses develop the skills needed in the AI era.
The initiative combines USD 50 million in new funding with Verizon’s existing USD 20 million Reskilling and Career Transition Fund for departing workers. The program will provide AI skills training at no charge to learners.
Verizon is creating a one-stop portal that will bring together AI training content from organizations including IBM, Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, Coursera and OpenAI.
The company said the training is designed to make AI learning more accessible to people across different stages of their careers. Verizon noted that similar premium AI training can cost more than USD 700 per person each year.
The initiative will provide these resources free of charge to students, job seekers, small businesses, educators and professionals going through career transitions.
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Verizon said access to online courses alone is not enough to close the AI skills gap. The program will therefore work with community-based organizations including Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) and Goodwill Industries International.
These organizations will provide hands-on coaching, curriculum guidance, and local support to help participants turn online learning into practical skills.
Goodwill Industries International is described as the largest nonprofit provider of job training and career placement services in North America.
The program will launch nationwide, with core wrap-around services initially available in select regional markets. Verizon said it will work with community partners and participants to gather real-time feedback and improve the program as workforce requirements change.
The company also said the initiative will involve collaboration across private, public and nonprofit sectors to advance AI skills and readiness.
Verizon CEO Dan Schulman said companies have a responsibility to invest in people with the same urgency with which they invest in technology. The initiative, announced on September 23, 2026, is part of Verizon’s broader efforts to support the American workforce and address the AI readiness gap.
