The University of Washington and Microsoft are deepening their partnership with a new effort aimed at preparing Washington state residents for an AI-driven economy.
UW President Robert J. Jones and Microsoft President Brad Smith announced the expanded collaboration Tuesday during an event at the UW’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. The initiative is designed to increase the UW’s access to advanced AI computing, broaden internship and applied research opportunities, and develop community AI literacy programs.
“The first age of computing is over. A new age of computing has begun,” Smith said. “We need to create the foundation for economic success for this state, and so much of that will involve the University of Washington.”
The expansion builds on decades of support for UW from Microsoft, including a total of about $165 million in scholarships and investments. Asked how to quantify the announcement beyond building on past collaborations, Smith said Microsoft is “putting many millions of dollars of additional compute at the disposal of the students and faculty,” through a mix of donated and discounted resources.
The announcement comes amid two notable trends.
The Partnership for Learning forecasts about 1.5 million projected job openings by 2032 in Washington state — 640,000 new jobs and 910,000 openings tied to retirements. Up to 75% of those roles are expected to require education or training beyond high school, and the group estimates Washington state could fall short by nearly 600,000 credentialed workers over the decade if current trends continue.
Jones called it a pivotal moment. “We must invest in AI readiness for our students, for the workforce, and for the entire state,” he said.
Jones, who became the UW’s 34th president in August, said only about 40% of Washington high school graduates complete a higher education credential within seven years. “We have a real problem here that needs to be addressed … it really does pose a serious threat to the economic vitality of the state of Washington by not having the workforce with the skills and the training and the education that’s going to add to the prosperity of the state.”
Then there is the AI boom and the uneasy question about the future of work.
The World Economic Forum last year reported that 40% of employers anticipate reducing their workforce where AI can automate tasks. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei last month said AI will lead to an “unusually painful” short-term transition in the labor market compared to past technologies.
Jones acknowledged that AI will inevitably transition some jobs, but stressed that it will also make many roles more effective and create new kinds of opportunities, including for people who may not pursue a traditional college degree.
He said universities like the UW, through partnerships with companies such as Microsoft, can help workers and students navigate this uncertainty and help them build new skills.
“We can’t just bury our heads in the sand and say woe [is] me,” Jones said. “We’ve got to be able to embrace it and look at how AI can enhance our ability to better serve people wherever they are in life, and to prepare for jobs that don’t even exist today.”
Smith described AI as “the latest wave of technology that will change work,” saying it will displace some jobs and create many new ones. “It doesn’t mean we should worry less about what can go wrong,” he said. “But we have to start focusing more on how to help things go right.”
He added: “The biggest problem right now with the conversation about AI and jobs is that it’s woefully incomplete. People — especially some folks in the tech sector — are spending all of their time talking exclusively about what AI might be able to do better than people. But they are spending none of their time talking about what AI might help people do better than the things they can do today.”
The partnership is also being framed as a public-private playbook for keeping the region competitive — and as a reminder to state lawmakers about the connection between higher education funding and workforce consequences. In a press release, Smith urged policymakers to avoid cuts to “core state funding” that could make college less accessible. The Legislature is currently debating how to balance the state’s budget.
Jones said about 71% of in‑state UW students already graduate debt‑free, and he wants to push that to 75% or 80% with help from partners and policymakers.
Here’s everything included in the expanded partnership:
- More advanced computing access for faculty, researchers and students for AI training, experimentation, research and instruction, with Microsoft donating Azure cloud computing credits to help accelerate development of a UW research cloud platform.
- A new effort to connect UW faculty, visiting professors and students with “real-world research opportunities” at Microsoft via a research marketplace supported by Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab, plus 10 additional graduate student-researcher slots per year (eight through Microsoft Research and two through the AI for Good Lab).
- New work aimed at undergraduate students focused on ethical judgment, digital citizenship and shaping how emerging technologies serve communities and democracy.
- Collaboration with UW Continuum College — which serves more than 50,000 learners annually across about 400 programs — to develop programming intended to help Washingtonians navigate AI-related workforce transitions, including courses and learning pathways focused on “career resilience” and shifting job demands.
- A new collaboration launching this fall on Microsoft’s Redmond campus, described as an effort to “reimagine” how universities and industry work together. UW and Microsoft said it will include co-developing select courses and learning experiences for Microsoft employees dealing with AI-driven change, while enabling UW students to learn alongside industry professionals as part of their academic experience. The organizations said additional details will come later this year.
Smith said he would “love to see” the research marketplace and internships create “opportunities for 1,000 more people” over the next year.
For Jones, the announcement fits into a broader agenda that includes creating “radical collaborations” with businesses and communities. He said UW is “blessed by proximity” to companies like Microsoft and sits “at the core of one of the most innovative cities in the world.”
“This is not just some pipe dream,” he said. “This is a strategic vision that’s absolutely necessary for us to help move this city, this state, and I would say the whole region — because the UW in partnership with companies like Microsoft really shapes the whole region, and in many ways influences the whole nation, if not the world.”
Speaking from a building named after Microsoft’s co-founder, Smith pointed to a continuation of a long Seattle tech lineage. “Microsoft was first founded as a company in Albuquerque, New Mexico — but it was born on this campus,” he said, alluding to Bill Gates and Paul Allen tinkering with university computers as high schoolers — a key step in the journey that led them to launch Microsoft.
Last year Microsoft unveiled Microsoft Elevate Washington, a new initiative that will provide free access to AI-powered software and training for all 295 public school districts and 34 community and technical colleges across Washington state. The program is part of Microsoft Elevate, the company’s broader $4 billion, five-year commitment to support schools and nonprofits with AI tools and training that was announced in July.
