Computer chip company Nvidia’s promise last year to train “AI ambassadors” on Oregon’s college campuses and get foundational AI concepts taught in schools has so far gone largely unmet by the company, according to a Capital Chronicle inquiry.
In April 2025, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang signed a one-year agreement with Gov. Tina Kotek and Higher Education Coordinating Commission Executive Director Ben Cannon to “advance workforce development, economic growth and innovation,” by getting artificial intelligence classes and technologies into Oregon’s education and research institutions. The agreement accompanied $10 million in state spending to expand AI education in schools and colleges.
Most of that money has been awarded to several Oregon universities and community colleges, with $1.5 million set aside, and still unspent, for Nvidia’s AI Ambassador program.
Among the key metrics of success for the private-public partnership outlined in the agreement was the number of trained Nvidia AI ambassadors that colleges would eventually have on their campuses. But this spring, the company paused its ambassadors program before ever minting any new ones in Oregon.
One faculty member at Southern Oregon University who attended a webinar for the program last year and applied to become an Nvidia Ambassador received an email from the company this spring saying the program was being suspended “until further notice,” and hasn’t heard anything since, according to university spokesperson Joe Mosley.
Ashley VanEssen, a spokesperson for the Oregon Institute of Technology, said ambassador hopefuls at the school received an email that Nvidia was “restructuring the program internally,” and that it was being paused.
“To my knowledge, our faculty have not received any additional updates since then,” VanEssen said.
In an email, a Nvidia spokesperson confirmed the ambassador program is on pause, but would not explain why, and did not respond to questions about whether other programs in the company’s Deep Learning Institute were also being paused.
“The ambassador program is not currently accepting new candidates as we work through next steps with our state partners. We remain committed to the goals of the collaboration,” the spokesperson wrote.
Despite multiple mentions of the partnership boosting the teaching of AI concepts at Oregon’s K-12 schools, the Oregon Department of Education “does not have any plans within the scope of the MOU,” according to department spokesperson Liz Merah.
Semiconductor programs awarded
Most of the $10 million in state money announced with the Nvidia partnership agreement — about $8.5 million — was in April granted to three community colleges, four universities and one nonprofit, via a program to boost the state’s semiconductor industry.
The remaining $1.5 million was intended to support faculty participation in the Nvidia AI ambassador program, but none of that money has been spent yet, according to Endi Hartigan, a spokesperson for Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission.
The grantees are all members of the Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology program, a collaborative led by Oregon State University and 95 private and public partners in the semiconductor industry, including Nvidia.
Chemeketa Community College received $550,000 to create a semiconductor career navigator program and mock fabrication lab for training.
Mt. Hood Community College received $1 million for electronic and semiconductor programs.
The Oregon Institute of Technology received $650,000 to collaborate with other universities on developing semiconductor courses that can be shared with any Oregon college or university, and to expand dual credit opportunities in high schools.
Oregon State University got $1.6 million to expand semiconductor training labs and courses.
Portland Community College got $1.2 million to increase dual credit programs for semiconductor training, and to expand its 10-day Quick Start Semiconductor Technician Training program.
Portland State University got $1 million to collaborate with other universities on developing semiconductor courses and to expand dual credit opportunities in high schools.
The University of Oregon got $1.5 million to support semiconductor industry internships, to collaborate with other universities on developing semiconductor courses and to “demonstrate K-12 career pathways.”
The nonprofit Oregon STEM got $1 million to expand semiconductor workforce training for K-12 students, to develop career and technical education programs in the semiconductor field and to expand an AI math pilot across the state.
Luke Harkins, a spokesperson for Kotek’s office, said in a statement that the governor “remains supportive of the original intent of the MOU to prepare Oregon’s future-ready workforce.”
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