Alcorn State University 1st HBCU To Fully Integrate AI
Alcorn State University announced it would be the first HBCU to fully integrate AI as part of a statewide initiative with NVIDIA and Mississippi’s educational institutions.
Mississippi Today reported in June 2025 that the initiative aims to train at least 10,000 Mississippians through a curriculum focused on AI skills, machine learning, and data science. The nonbinding agreement will see NVIDIA providing 15 supercomputers to Alcorn State.
“We have this event so we can notify the public about, hey, Alcorn State is here. Alcorn is in the game. Alcorn is going to be a part of this AI initiative, President Tracy Cook told WLBT.
“This collaboration with Nvidia is monumental for Mississippi. By expanding AI education, investing in workforce development, and encouraging innovation, we, along with Nvidia, are creating a pathway to dynamic careers in AI and cybersecurity for Mississippians,” Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said at a 2025 news conference announcing the partnership. “These are the in-demand jobs of the future — jobs that will change the landscape of our economy for generations to come. AI is here now, and it is here to stay.”
Under the agreement, NVIDIA will supply graphics processing units (GPUs) to the schools and provide training on how students can use them. As a dude running a PC with an NVIDIA RTX 5080 GPU, I didn’t realize there were classes on how to use them.
Mississippi joins Utah, California, and Oregon, which have all signed similar agreements with the company. NVIDIA has said that the partnerships are part of a larger effort to bolster the United States’ position as the global leader in artificial intelligence.
“Together, we will enhance economic growth through an AI-skilled workforce, advanced research, and industry engagement, positioning Mississippi as a hub for AI-driven transformation to the benefit of its communities,” Louis Stewart, head of strategic initiatives for Nvidia’s global developer ecosystem, told Mississippi Today last year.
It’s unclear what AI tools will be used in the classroom and if AI companies such as OpenAI or Anthropic will contribute learning resources as well.
The partnership comes at a somewhat tumultuous time for the technology. OpenAI, arguably the most widely known AI company through its ChatGPT product, has made several moves in recent months that raise questions about its financial viability. The company recently announced it would shutter its generative AI video app, Sora, prompting Disney to pull out of a billion-dollar partnership with the company.
While we’ve already seen several companies cut their workforce to pivot to AI, many of those companies are walking back those layoffs as it becomes apparent that AI is still a very new technology that’s prone to hallucination. Amazon had to overhaul its coding processes after an AI coding tool produced faulty code, causing millions of orders to be lost.
As a result of coming of age with the rise of social media and living through the consequences of how radically it changed human interaction for the worse, it’s hard for me to be enthusiastic about a technology largely promoted by billionaires excited by all the cost-cutting possibilities it presents. Especially when compounded by the fact that many AI data centers harm the environment and strain power grids in the communities where they’re located.
I like people more than computers, what can I say?
I generally disagree with Tate Reeves on, like, everything, yet he is right in that, like it or not, AI is here to stay. It’s very clear that the AI bubble is likely going to burst at some point in the near future, but just as the internet didn’t die as a result of the dot-com bubble, AI will still likely be around in some way, shape, or form.
If I can allow myself some optimism, I’m hoping AI’s negative environmental impact will be addressed and that partnerships such as the one with Alcorn State University are a sign that AI will simply be a tool used by the next generation of workers, rather than a technology that replaces them.
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Alcorn State University 1st HBCU To Fully Integrate AI was originally published on newsone.com
