California’s Public Universities Went All in on A.I. Now They’re Tearing Themselves Apart.

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.Credit...Illustration by Maxime MouyssetA University System Went All In on A.I. Now It’s Tearing Itself Apart.California’s public universities spent $16.9 million on A.I. during a financial crisis, and the result has been chaos.Credit...Illustration by Maxime MouyssetListen · 29:53 min By Linda KinstlerLinda Kinstler spoke with over 60 students, faculty members and administrators at several campuses over the course of a year, as well as with several technology executives involved in the A.I. Initiative.June 1, 2026Last spring, newly admitted students to San Jose State University received an unusual video message from the institution’s president, Cynthia Teniente-Matson. Her caramel curls were tucked behind her shoulders, her hands clasped neatly at her torso. Dressed down in a royal blue hoodie, she appeared composed and approachable. “Congratulations on your admission,” she said. “At S.J.S.U., you’ll have opportunities to dive into the technologies shaping the world today, and redefine what’s possible for tomorrow.”This was not, in fact, Teniente-Matson addressing the new class, but her brand-new custom A.I. avatar. “I’m thrilled to share this special moment with you,” the avatar said. “It’s only fitting, isn’t it? After all, technology is a cornerstone of what makes San Jose State University such an incredible place to learn, innovate and grow.”The avatar is one feature of S.J.S.U.’s A.I. Everywhere strategy, which was formally announced in the fall of 2025 and aims to integrate the technology across campus life. Teniente-Matson devised A.I. Everywhere as part of the California State University system’s broader A.I. Initiative, introduced in February 2025. Anchored by a $16.9 million deal with OpenAI, the initiative provides a total of 500,000 licenses of ChatGPT.edu to be issued to all students, faculty and administrators.

At the time, this was the largest single-institution deployment of ChatGPT in the world, billed as an attempt to turn C.S.U. — the biggest four-year public higher education system in the United States, comprising 22 distinct campuses and educating 1 out of every 10 workers in the state — into “the nation’s first and largest A.I.-powered public university system.” (The terms of the deal stipulate that OpenAI may not train its model on data from the C.S.U.)At San Jose State — the oldest public university in the California State University system — evidence of the shift toward A.I. is evident across campus. The university now has an A.I. librarian, and its main library features a new A.I. Center for Civic and Social Good. The business school runs an A.I. boot camp for high school students; the campus career hub is sponsored by Adobe; A.I. literacy training is an orientation requirement and, last year, an A.I. agent helped coordinate commencement logistics.Teniente-Matson, who arrived at San Jose in 2023 after eight years at the helm of Texas A&M University-San Antonio, is leading the school’s A.I. charge. In person, she is affable and eccentric, and often power-dresses in bright primary colors. When we met, she was wearing green rhinestone-studded high heels in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. She frequently refers to herself as the “C.E.O.” of the university and compares herself to tech leaders in Silicon Valley: “We’re all trying to do the same thing,” she told me, “which is to mobilize our entire work force in this rapidly changing environment to adapt, create, innovate and be more productive.”In addition to the welcome message for incoming students, she has used her A.I. avatar to communicate with parents and alumni in languages she does not speak. She said she was working on creating a kind of hologram of herself that could do the same. “We are pioneering new ways to integrate technology into learning, research and student success,” her avatar says in a video posted to the university website. “From A.I. coursework to industry partnership, S.J.S.U. is helping to shape the future of artificial intelligence.”Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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