Google’s philanthropic arm unveiled plans to hand two public sector educational organisations a combined $15 million to fund training in responsible AI skills for US government staff.

In a statement, Google.org announced not-for-profit organisation Partnership for Public Service would receive $10 million to help establish the forthcoming Centre for Federal AI.

The facility is being created to provide education for workers at every level of responsibility within federal government agencies and is due to open in the first half of 2025.

CEO of the Partnership for Public Service Max Stier described AI as “today’s electricity”, which is “fundamental to the public sector and to our society”. The funding, he added, would allow it to “expand our current programming and research”.

The remaining $5 million will be given to an organisation called InnovateUS, which provides workshops and online training tailored for government workers. It is backed by a consortium of federal, state and local authority partners.

InnovateUS will use the funds to expand its current offering, targeting the education of more than 100,000 public sector workers across 30 states.    

Google.org’s latest $15 million in pledges form part of its $75 million AI Opportunities Fund announced in April, which aims to up the level of related skills in the country.