CUNY Graduate Center and its academic partners awarded more than $1M by Google.org to advance statewide AI education through the Empire AI consortium

(Press-News.org) NEW YORK, January 7, 2026 — The City University of New York Graduate Center (CUNY Graduate Center) has received a grant totaling more than $1 million from Google.org to support the work of Empire AI, a statewide consortium of 11 public and private academic institutions focused on advancing the effective integration of artificial intelligence into higher education. The award—which is the second such source of funding that the CUNY Graduate Center has received from Google.org to support AI literacy in higher education—will further the reach of a comprehensive, multi-institution assessment of how best to prepare students across all degree levels and disciplines for an AI-driven workforce.

“Google recognized the value of the Empire AI consortium to look at issues at scale—in particular looking at how we can help students use AI to learn across degree type, different systems, and different areas of study,” said Joshua C. Brumberg, President of the CUNY Graduate Center. “Our goal is to discern if similar interventions can work across all these areas of post-secondary educational achievement.”

The Empire AI consortium includes the CUNY Graduate Center, Columbia University, Cornell University, Icahn School of Medicine, New York University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the State University of New York, University at Buffalo, and University of Rochester. Together, these institutions will ensure that New York’s students—from associate to doctoral levels—receive the training necessary to thrive in a rapidly evolving AI-enabled workplace.

Unlike traditional educational research, which often occurs within a single institution, Empire AI enables member campuses to test, evaluate, and share findings rapidly across the consortium. Results—including digital tools, curricula, lesson plans, and other teaching materials—will be widely shared to ensure that best practices in AI pedagogy are adopted and scaled across New York State. By leveraging its collective scope, Empire AI aims to maximize student learning outcomes and strengthen New York’s leadership in AI education.

Each consortium member will explore different dimensions of AI integration in higher education. At the CUNY Graduate Center, researcher fellows will build on current efforts to understand how generative AI is impacting classrooms across the entirety of CUNY. This includes surveys, focus groups, and interviews with thousands of students and faculty, as well as the collection and assessment of syllabi, assignments, and other teaching artifacts.

“This new grant will allow us to expand our research to engage thousands of students inside and outside courses we're supporting through the Critical AI Literacy Institute at CUNY and conduct additional focus groups,” said Luke Waltzer, principal investigator of the grant and director of the CUNY Graduate Center’s Teaching and Learning Center. “The more that we can capture the voices and experiences of students across disciplines, the better. We want to foster critical literacy about generative AI by engaging not just those embracing it, but also those questioning or resisting it.”

Listen to this recent episode of The Thought Project podcast with Luke Waltzer for more information about how the CUNY Graduate Center is advancing critical AI literacy with the support of Google.org and Empire AI.

 

About the Graduate Center of The City University of New York
The CUNY Graduate Center is a leader in public graduate education devoted to enhancing the public good through pioneering research, serious learning, and reasoned debate. The Graduate Center offers ambitious students over 50 doctoral, master’s and certificate programs of the highest caliber, taught by top faculty from throughout CUNY — the nation’s largest urban public university. Through its nearly 40 centers, institutes, initiatives, and the Advanced Science Research Center, the Graduate Center influences public policy and discourse and shapes innovation. The Graduate Center’s extensive public programs make it a home for culture and conversation.

 

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