Andreessen Horowitz is funding a San Francisco academy, led by Udemy cofounder Gagan Biyani, that offers high school graduates a tuition-free, one-year program focused on building startups rather than academic coursework. The founding cohort of about 50 students will skip tests and homework, instead working on real projects with mentors from firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta, and receiving roughly $50,000 in computing credit plus a $5,000 travel and research budget. OpenAI's Sam Altman is named as a guest lecturer or instructor, and other tech figures, including Fidji Simo, are contributing funding.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-23
Nature's editorial board argues that as AI tools spread through classrooms and lecture halls, universities must not let chatbots replace the human teaching that instills excitement about thinking and learning. The piece cites an accompanying News Feature reviewing early-stage research on AI's effects on critical thinking, and references MIT's recent review of AI use by staff and students, which found temptation to misuse AI rose when students feared missing deadlines.
nature.com
· 2026-09-23
Andreessen Horowitz is opening The Horowitz Andreessen Academy, a one-year, tuition-free program in San Francisco for about 50 high school graduates who haven't attended college. The program mixes technical coursework with mentorship from tech industry figures, and is backed by $42 million in funding as a for-profit venture led by CEO Gagan Biyani.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-22
Napster, now owned by AI/VR firm Infinite Reality, has partnered with GEMS Education in the UAE to create AI-generated avatars of teachers that answer student questions around the clock in multiple languages. The system will run on Napster Learn and a wearable device called Napster View, with a rollout planned across GEMS Middle East schools by the end of 2026.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-21
MIT researchers released a report on education finding that many students increasingly rely on AI chatbots to complete coursework, sometimes offloading thinking entirely rather than just seeking assistance. The study links this overreliance to declining critical thinking, weaker memory, reduced confidence, and diminished mastery of course material, with some students unable to engage in class discussions.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-19
In a guest post, 3Blue1Brown creator Grant Sanderson argues that as AI systems become capable of generating proofs without genuine understanding, mathematicians should formalize and reward 'motivated explanations' as academic work on par with solving open problems. He contends this shift would better reflect what mathematicians actually contribute beyond just producing correct proofs.
terrytao.wordpress.com
· 2026-09-19
Natasha Singer's book 'Coding Kids' traces how Code.org and its founder Hadi Partovi convinced schools that coding was essential to economic survival, paving the way for tech companies to influence curricula. In an interview with The 74, Singer argues today's AI push by Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and Google into classrooms mirrors that earlier coding campaign, despite growing public distrust of Big Tech.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-18
Napster, once known as a pioneering music-sharing service shut down after copyright lawsuits, has been relaunched as an AI company under new owner Infinite Reality. It has struck a partnership with Gems Education in Dubai to develop AI agents and digital personas aimed at classrooms, with former Landvault CEO Samuel Huber now leading Napster's Middle East and Africa operations.
wired.com
· 2026-09-18
Google has rolled out its Notebooks feature within Gemini to Workspace and Google Education account holders, months after it launched for regular Gmail users in April. The feature lets students, educators and enterprise users organize notes and web resources into notebooks to build reports, slide decks and study materials directly inside Gemini. Google also extended the ability to import books from Google Play Books into notebooks, a feature previously limited to consumer accounts.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-18
A reader without formal computer science training describes spending a year using LLMs to build a complex TypeScript/JavaScript system with APIs, PostgreSQL, and multi-model AI pipelines. When trying to move the project to production, they found themselves stuck fixing cascading errors they didn't fully understand, realizing the system's complexity had outpaced their own comprehension. A programming writer responds publicly to the reader's letter, offering candid, non-definitive thoughts on learning and competence in an AI-assisted coding era.
blog.ploeh.dk
· 2026-09-16
An opinion piece features students weighing whether a college degree still holds value as AI systems increasingly handle tasks once assigned to entry-level workers. The discussion centers on shifting expectations for new graduates entering a job market reshaped by automation.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-15
Nature interviewed eight higher-education leaders and consultants about the condition of UK universities as roughly 518,000 new students, including around 300,000 aged 18, begin term this week. Nearly 40% of institutions are forecast to run a deficit this financial year amid falling funding and shifting enrollment patterns. While the panel disagreed on whether degrees still offer value and whether the situation constitutes a full-blown crisis, they converged on two points: the current financial model cannot continue, and universities are not prepared for the disruption artificial intelligence will bring.
nature.com
· 2026-09-14
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