Verizon is committing $70 million to a nationwide effort to help Americans build artificial intelligence skills, offering free training to job seekers, small-business owners, educators and workers whose jobs are being affected by automation.

The initiative, branded "Verizon AI Skills for America," pairs $50 million in new funding with $20 million the company had previously committed to AI reskilling, according to the company's announcement. While the earlier Reskilling and Career Transition Fund focused on Verizon's own workforce, the new funding extends access to students, early-career professionals and business owners outside the company.

Verizon, which reported $138.2 billion in revenue in 2025, described the initiative as an extension of its broader efforts to narrow the gap in the digital space. For scale, the $70 million outlay amounts to roughly 0.05 percent of that annual revenue.

Free access to premium AI training

The program brings courses from IBM, Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, Coursera and OpenAI together into a single portal, and learners will be able to access them at no cost. Verizon estimates that premium training comparable to what the program offers can cost more than $700 per person each year. Pooling coursework from companies that compete in the AI market into one place is a distinguishing feature, and covering the fee removes a cost barrier for learners without employer-sponsored training budgets.

"We are deeply grateful to our tech partners for collaborating with us to bring world-class AI training to local communities entirely free of charge," Donna Epps, Verizon's chief responsible business officer, said in the company's statement.

The telecom company is also relying on community organizations to make the training more practical. The Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship and Goodwill Industries International will support participants with on-the-ground coaching and guidance.

Training push follows job cuts

The upskilling program also comes after a stretch of layoffs at Verizon. Reuters reported that the company's original $20 million commitment followed its plan to eliminate 13,000 positions.

Chief Executive Dan Schulman has called on other large companies to contribute to the initiative. He said contributions of $50 million to $70 million from each Fortune 100 company could create a multibillion-dollar fund to help workers build skills for AI-related jobs. At those per-company amounts, participation across the Fortune 100 — the largest U.S. companies by revenue — would add up to roughly $5 billion to $7 billion, and whether peers respond will shape the potential size of the pool.

In the release, Schulman said AI will fundamentally reshape workforces around the world, adding that companies need to invest their people with the same urgency they bring to new technology.

Steven C. Preston, CEO of Goodwill Industries International, said the community-based approach matters because workforce changes play out locally, arguing that real transformations in the workforce occur within the community.

Verizon added that the program will launch nationwide, although the full range of coaching and other types of support will initially be available only in selected regional markets. Which regional markets receive the full support package first, and whether other corporations join the funding call, are the main developments to watch as the program moves from announcement to launch.