Verizon Communications to Invest $70 Million in Nationwide AI Training Program

09:30 AM EDT, 09/23/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Verizon Communications (VZ) is investing $70 million in a nationwide program to provide artificial intelligence training to job seekers, small businesses, and educators, the company said Wednesday. The new program adds $50 million to the company's $20 million fund for reskilling departing employees, Verizon said. The telecom company said it is collaborating with non-profits and plans to use training material from tech firms such as IBM (IBM), Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google, Anthropic, Microsoft (MSFT), Coursera (COUR), and OpenAI.