Google has unveiled AI Works for Europe, a new initiative designed to help students and workers master artificial intelligence to advance their careers. The program includes around €28.5 million ($30 million investment) in the Google.org AI Opportunity Fund and the expansion of the Google AI Professional Certificate into ten European languages. The effort aims to reach 50,000 workers through partnerships with trade unions and nonprofits, focusing on sectors like finance, marketing, and logistics where AI literacy is becoming a job requirement.
“AI is only scary because it’s modern. But modernity isn’t always scary. It’s just about overcoming a human limitation”, says Maria Teresa Pellegrino, 61-year-old Italian olive oil producer and program participant.
In their announcement they say that the broad AI adoption is projected to provide a €1.2 trillion boost to Europe’s GDP. With research by an intergovernmental – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development showing that 24% of entry-level job postings now require AI skills, the program builds on Google’s decade-long effort to modernize the European workforce, during which the company has trained over 21 million people in digital competencies since 2015.
