AI needs to be better incorporated into early education. At least, that’s what President Trump thinks, having signed an executive order instructing the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation to prioritize AI in the classroom.
AI has been a big focus of the Trump presidency, with companies like Google, NVIDIA, and OpenAI working with the administration to ensure that the US wins the race for AI supremacy.
In addition to current investments, Trump wants to plan for the future as well by making AI a bigger focus for those in K-12 education.
New Executive Order Set to Improve AI Usage in K-12 Education
A new executive order was signed by President Trump this week, seeking to better position the US to be a powerhouse for AI education and employment.
More specifically, the directive instructs the Department of Education to make an effort to integrate AI tools into the learning experience and to better educate students on how to develop and use these tools in their future careers.
This just in! View
the top business tech deals for 2025 👨💻
“The basic idea of this executive order is to ensure that we properly train the workforce of the future by ensuring that school children, young Americans, are adequately trained in AI tools, so that they can be competitive in the economy years from now into the future, as AI becomes a bigger and bigger deal.” – Will Scharf, White House staff secretary
In addition to the instructions for the Department of Education, the executive order also directs the National Science Foundation to make research about using AI in education a priority and the Department of Labor to prioritize AI training and apprenticeships moving forward.
President Trump on AI
As is often the case, President Trump had plenty to say about the executive order, noting that, “This is a big deal, because AI seems to be where it’s at.”
“We have literally trillions of dollars being invested in AI. Somebody today, a very smart person, said that AI is the way to the future. I don’t know if that’s right or not, but certainly very smart people are investing in it.” – President Trump
Whether or not Trump knows that’s right remains to be seen, but with AI becoming a big part of the business world and beyond, getting young people acquainted with the technology certainly doesn’t hurt.
The AI Skills Gap
President Trump has taken a lot of questionable actions since taking office earlier this year, but this one might actually be the right move, particularly given the substantial implications of the increasing AI skills gap.
Given the speed at which this technology is evolving and the lack of proper education to teach young people how it works, the reality is that in a few short years, the needs of the industry could far outweigh the breadth of the talent pool.
Hopefully, this initiative will light a fire under the feet of those in charge of educating young people on the kinds of careers that are going to be available when they graduate.
