Tools & Platforms
Melania Trump urges ‘watchful guidance’ of AI in education summit
Announcing “the robots are here [and] our future is no longer science fiction,” first lady Melania Trump appeared alongside senior Trump administration officials and tech CEOs on Thursday in the second meeting of the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education.
The first lady highlighted the importance of AI in education but hinted at the tension between larger societal and cultural concerns about AI’s negative effects and the administration’s prioritization of AI innovation.
“I predict AI will present the single largest growth category in our nation during this administration,” Trump said, “and I won’t be surprised if AI becomes known as the greatest engine of progress in the history of the United States.”
She added, however, that “we must manage AI’s growth responsibly,” and that “during this primitive stage” it should be subject to “watchful guidance.”
The task force was formed following an executive order from President Donald Trump in April to promote AI literacy and proficiency among American youth. The task force is responsible for coordinating federal efforts related to AI education, ranging from the promotion of AI in schools to training educators and broadly encouraging the development of an AI-ready workforce.
Thursday’s meeting was short on any major policy announcements. Melania Trump was joined by Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, as well as the secretaries of education, labor, agriculture and energy, who gave updates about their efforts to promote AI. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer noted that the Department of Labor issued guidance in August encouraging state and local workforce agencies to use existing funds to help workers develop AI skills.
At the Education Department, Secretary Linda McMahon said that “any grant applications that come into the department that utilize AI will be more strongly considered for their grants,” adding that AI-related grants “might get some bonus points.”
The president’s executive order also emphasized the role of public-private partnerships in promoting AI among students, parents and educators. Over 100 private-sector organizations have so far pledged to be “AI Education and Workforce Champions,” and many of these organizations’ leaders attended Thursday’s event.
Signatories to the pledge, including corporations like Apple and Cisco plus industry groups like the Telecommunications Industry Association, commit to provide resources over the next four years for AI education via funding, educational materials, technology and tools, or other expertise and mentorship.
The leaders of three tech companies unveiled their pledge commitments at the meeting. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said the company aims to use its SkillsBuild platform to train 2 million Americans in “cutting-edge AI skills” over the next three years, while Code.org President Cameron Wilson said his organization aims to partner with 25 states over the next three years to help promote and build AI pathways in education. Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai pledged to spend $150 million out of a three-year, $1 billion education commitment specifically on AI education in the United States.
In conjunction with Thursday’s event, Microsoft announced that it will give all college students in the U.S. 12 free months of Microsoft 365 and will fund $1.25 million in prizes for what’s being called the Presidential AI Challenge.
Melania Trump announced the challenge last week, meant to encourage students and teachers to create AI-powered solutions to a variety of “national challenges.”
Sample project ideas range from creating AI tools to design healthier meals — a project floated for middle schoolers — to a high school-level proposal for students to develop AI assistants to better segment arteries in the human body. Projects will be judged on several criteria, including the project’s creativity and the use of tested and accurate AI.
The Presidential AI Challenge is something of an AI-themed reboot of the White House Science Fair, which ran for several years under President Barack Obama but was canceled by Donald Trump in 2017.
The White House focus on youth AI education comes as concerns continue to mount around AI’s potential for negatively affecting children and teens, a subject the first lady has previously highlighted. At the signing of the Take It Down Act in May, the first lady likened AI tools to addictive digital candy “engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children.” But unlike candy, the first lady said, AI tools can “affect emotions and even be deadly” for youth.
Last week, the family of 16-year-old Adam Raine sued ChatGPT maker OpenAI after the teen died by suicide following conversations with the chatbot. On Tuesday, OpenAI announced it was instituting enhanced safety guardrails for teen ChatGPT users.
Thursday’s task force gathering took place ahead of Donald Trump’s scheduled Rose Garden dinner with over two dozen technology and business executives later that evening.
Despite short-term stock pressure, CoreWeave remains positioned to meet overwhelming AI compute demand, supporting long-term optimism in the sector.
Nvidia-backed CoreWeave says peak AI investment is still far off, as demand for compute capacity from OpenAI, hyperscalers, enterprises, and governments continues to surge. CEO Michael Intrator said CoreWeave is rapidly scaling to meet soaring global GPU demand.
Since the IPO lockup expiry, insider stock sales have added to the downward pressure.
Intrator defended the company’s strategy, describing debt as the most efficient way to fund growth. Analysts warn CoreWeave shares could stay volatile, though strong AI infrastructure demand supports long-term optimism.
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Tools & Platforms
CipherSense AI Partners with Databricks to Drive Data and AI Innovation Across Africa
Lagos, Nigeria
CipherSense AI, a leading Africa-focused AI and analytics company, has entered a strategic partnership with Databricks, the global leader in data and AI platforms. The collaboration aims to accelerate enterprise adoption of data-driven decision-making and artificial intelligence across the continent.
By combining CipherSense AI’s deep understanding of Africa’s market challenges with Databricks’ world-class infrastructure, the partnership is set to provide organizations with the tools they need to turn raw data into actionable insights at scale.
Why This Partnership Matters
Across Africa, enterprises and governments are grappling with issues such as fragmented data systems, limited digital infrastructure, and challenges in AI adoption. These limitations often result in slow decision-making, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities.
With Databricks’ unified analytics platform, CipherSense AI will be able to offer clients a secure, scalable, and collaborative environment for data engineering, machine learning, and analytics. This means businesses can accelerate innovation, reduce costs, and build AI models that are more relevant to Africa’s unique context.
“AI adoption in Africa has always been slowed down by infrastructural gaps and lack of localized solutions,” said Olaoye Somide, CEO of CipherSense AI. “This partnership removes those barriers by delivering world-class tools and expertise, combined with our commitment to designing AI that works for Africa, not against it.”
Unlocking Potential Across Key Sectors
The CipherSense AI and Databricks partnership is poised to make a significant impact across several vital industries. From fintech and healthcare to agriculture and supply chain management, the partnership is expected to transform how organizations approach innovation.
Enterprises will have direct access to the full suite of Databricks’ industry-leading data and AI capabilities, including:
Seamless Data Migration & Integration: Helping companies transition from legacy systems to modern, AI-ready environments.
Secure Governance & Compliance: Ensuring data protection aligned with African regulations and global standards.
Advanced AI & Machine Learning: Powering use cases such as fraud detection, crop yield optimization, and personalized customer engagement.
Cost Efficiency & Scale: Reducing infrastructure costs and accelerating the shift from pilot projects to enterprise-wide deployment.
This strategic alliance is expected to significantly impact the African tech ecosystem by lowering the barriers to entry for advanced data and AI technologies. It will also help cultivate a new generation of data-driven enterprises, positioning Africa as a key player in the global digital economy.
A Global Opportunity
This partnership represents a significant milestone in Africa’s digital transformation journey. By marrying global AI technology with African insights, CipherSense AI and Databricks are positioning the continent not just as a consumer of AI but as a contributor to global innovation.
“We believe Africa is ready for its AI moment,” said Olaoye Somide, CEO of CipherSense AI. “With Databricks, we are equipping enterprises and governments with the tools they need to drive growth, efficiency, and inclusion.”
Enterprises, governments, and startups across Africa can now partner with CipherSense AI to unlock the full potential of data and AI. To learn more or explore partnership opportunities, visit www.ciphersense.ai
About CipherSense AI
CipherSense AI is a Data & AI intelligence platform built with Africa at its core. We enable organizations to build, deploy, and manage AI at scale, while ensuring fairness, transparency, and local relevance. Our layered enterprise architecture integrates industry-focused foundation models, business-specific fine-tuning, and powerful apps and APIs designed to solve Africa’s most pressing challenges.
About Databricks
Databricks is a leading data and AI company, offering a unified Data Intelligence Platform that integrates data management, analytics, and AI. Its innovative lakehouse architecture empowers organizations to streamline workflows, accelerate innovation, and achieve impactful results.
For many businesses, the challenge isn’t a lack of information but finding the right detail in a sea of documents. Prague-based Phi Technologies addresses this with PhiBox, an AI-powered platform that scans, interprets, and searches vast collections of paperwork to deliver precise answers in seconds. Powered by optical character recognition, PhiBox goes beyond keyword searches to extract text, read graphs, and interpret visual data.
It already works in Czech, English, and German, making it useful for multinational teams. From law firms handling discovery documents to corporations managing compliance records, PhiBox turns administrative drudgery into accessible, actionable knowledge — showing how AI can transform information overload into real business value.
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