Google and ITU Launch Global AI Training Push With 100,000 Scholarships

Google has partnered with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to provide 100,000 scholarships for online AI courses in over 80 countries. The goal of this initiative is to expand literacy and narrow the global digital skills divide.

The scholarships will be distributed through local governments and the ITU-UNICEF Giga initiative. According to the ITU, an estimated 1.2 billion people still need basic digital skills training, with another 311 million requiring training beyond the basic level.

Google's Lisa Gevelber and ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin stated that access to connectivity alone would not be enough to prevent a new divide in an AI-driven economy. The initiative comes as businesses struggle to turn wider access to AI tools into practical use, with Deloitte's 2026 State of AI in the Enterprise report identifying a lack of skills as the biggest obstacle to adoption.