Submission + - Hour of AI Gives Tech an Infomercial to Show Off Its Wares to Kids, Teachers
Code.org is expanding its mission this year with the goal of making both K-12 CS and AI a graduation requirement, including promoting AI literacy and usage by students and teachers across all subjects, and the just-released Hour of AI activity lineup (press release) reflects that new pivot to AI (non-AI Hour of Code CS and coding activities from the past 12 years are now stigmatized with the label 'legacy'). Code.org $30M+ Lifetime Supporter Microsoft is offering eight Hour of AI activities, including six Minecraft titles ("Survive your first Minecraft night with an AI Agent! Train it to gather resources, craft tools, and build shelter," is the pitch to kids for Hour of AI: The First Night). Google's AI Quests encourages kids to "step into the shoes of Google researchers using AI to solve real-world challenges" (Google is a Code.org $10M+ Lifetime Supporter). And two Code.org-credited tutorials developed in partnership with Code.org $30M+ Lifetime Supporter Amazon — Dance Party: AI Edition and Music Lab: Jam Session — feature Amazon Music employees as instructors (Code.org's flagship 2025 Hour of AI tutorial, Mix & Move with AI appears to draw material and music artists from these two earlier Code.org + Amazon offerings). Like the Hour of Code, the Hour of AI home page also notes that the event is "Powered by AWS." AI-themed activities are also offered by perennial children's favorites Roblox and Lego.
While not credited with a specific Hour of AI activity, AI leader-of-the-pack OpenAI will have a behind-the-scenes presence (Microsoft will soon hold an investment valued at $135B in OpenAI Group PBC). Not only is OpenAI providing $1M in AI credits for Vibe Coding: Build Your First Game Using AI" in a partnership with Swedish AI startup Lovable (Lovable's investors include OpenAI Board member Adam D'Angelo) and imagi with "the goal of bringing vibe coding to 100m kids globally," it also powers the Khanmigo AI Teacher Tools that are the focus of Khan Academy's Hour of AI activity for teachers, Learn to Generate Great Lesson Plans with Khan Academy, which breathlessly promises teachers they can "Save HOURS of Planning with Khanmigo."