New York Funds Queens AI Jobs Institute

New York City and New York State are investing $10 million in an AI Jobs Institute, a training hub in Long Island City, Queens, that aims to prepare up to 40,000 New Yorkers for AI-related jobs by 2032. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the institute on Thursday. The nonprofit Pursuit will design and operate it, connect trainees with employers, and produce research to guide state and federal workforce policy. Public funding includes Empire State Development, the city’s Economic Development Corporation and the Queens Borough President’s Office; Ascendium Education Group, Google.org, Wells Fargo, Con Edison and Adobe will fund operations.

The institute opens as New York’s tech workforce grows. The metro area added 30,640 tech workers from 2022 to 2025, reaching 394,300 and surpassing the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time in the 13-year history of CBRE’s annual tech talent report. Banks and other financial firms accounted for much of that growth through AI hiring, although the Bay Area still has more AI specialists. Hochul’s FutureWorks Commission is expected to deliver proposals by the end of December on job training and placement, job quality, the social safety net and small-business support. Pursuit CEO Nick Simmons said the city will need “millions and millions” of workers upskilled in AI by 2030.

The hub expands New York’s existing work with Pursuit. In March, Empire State Development named the nonprofit statewide lead for AI Prep for Jobs, a program intended to train 420 low-income New Yorkers through accelerated courses rather than degree programs. Founded in 2012, Pursuit shifted from software training to a 630-hour AI course about three years ago; it updates the course weekly. Simmons said about 400 to 500 people have taken the full course or shorter workshops. Reaching 40,000 would require roughly an eighty-fold increase in about six years.

Pursuit says 70% of participants are Black or Latine, half receive public assistance, 60% lack a four-year degree and 40% are immigrants. It says its programs have generated more than $1 billion in participants’ lifetime wage gains, while the state’s announcement sets no placement or wage targets for the institute. The hub is opening as entry-level jobs for new tech workers shrink. Census Bureau research cited in the article says that since ChatGPT’s release, graduates of AI-exposed majors such as computer science have found fewer jobs and lower pay, often in retail and food service; entry-level job postings in those fields increasingly ask for skills once expected of experienced workers.

Pursuit recruits through the New York City Housing Authority, public libraries, local labor departments and community groups, and plans to add small-business associations. Trainees start with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot, then learn to build AI agents for routine business tasks. Simmons warned that without proficiency, AI can provide false answers or simply agree with users. Former U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona will chair the institute’s national advisory council, which includes representatives from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.org, as well as CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez. Simmons said OpenAI, Anthropic and Google are providing credits, certificates and access to training platforms; employers on the council will report which skills they are hiring for. Pursuit also plans to work with CUNY, which enrolls roughly 500,000 students, on add-on AI certificates. It trained 100 students at LaGuardia Community College this year and plans to expand that partnership.

New York City and New York State are investing $10 million in an AI Jobs Institute, a training hub in Long Island City, Queens, that aims to prepare up to 40,000 New Yorkers for AI-related jobs by 2032. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the institute on Thursday. The nonprofit Pursuit will design and operate it, connect trainees with employers, and produce research to guide state and federal workforce policy. Public funding includes Empire State Development, the city’s Economic Development Corporation and the Queens Borough President’s Office; Ascendium Education Group, Google.org, Wells Fargo, Con Edison and Adobe will fund operations.

The institute opens as New York’s tech workforce grows. The metro area added 30,640 tech workers from 2022 to 2025, reaching 394,300 and surpassing the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time in the 13-year history of CBRE’s annual tech talent report. Banks and other financial firms accounted for much of that growth through AI hiring, although the Bay Area still has more AI specialists. Hochul’s FutureWorks Commission is expected to deliver proposals by the end of December on job training and placement, job quality, the social safety net and small-business support. Pursuit CEO Nick Simmons said the city will need “millions and millions” of workers upskilled in AI by 2030.

The hub expands New York’s existing work with Pursuit. In March, Empire State Development named the nonprofit statewide lead for AI Prep for Jobs, a program intended to train 420 low-income New Yorkers through accelerated courses rather than degree programs. Founded in 2012, Pursuit shifted from software training to a 630-hour AI course about three years ago; it updates the course weekly. Simmons said about 400 to 500 people have taken the full course or shorter workshops. Reaching 40,000 would require roughly an eighty-fold increase in about six years.

Pursuit says 70% of participants are Black or Latine, half receive public assistance, 60% lack a four-year degree and 40% are immigrants. It says its programs have generated more than $1 billion in participants’ lifetime wage gains, while the state’s announcement sets no placement or wage targets for the institute. The hub is opening as entry-level jobs for new tech workers shrink. Census Bureau research cited in the article says that since ChatGPT’s release, graduates of AI-exposed majors such as computer science have found fewer jobs and lower pay, often in retail and food service; entry-level job postings in those fields increasingly ask for skills once expected of experienced workers.

Pursuit recruits through the New York City Housing Authority, public libraries, local labor departments and community groups, and plans to add small-business associations. Trainees start with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot, then learn to build AI agents for routine business tasks. Simmons warned that without proficiency, AI can provide false answers or simply agree with users. Former U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona will chair the institute’s national advisory council, which includes representatives from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.org, as well as CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez. Simmons said OpenAI, Anthropic and Google are providing credits, certificates and access to training platforms; employers on the council will report which skills they are hiring for. Pursuit also plans to work with CUNY, which enrolls roughly 500,000 students, on add-on AI certificates. It trained 100 students at LaGuardia Community College this year and plans to expand that partnership.