New York is expanding its lead in the tech sector with a $10 million AI training initiative aimed at preparing tens of thousands of lower-income residents for artificial intelligence jobs by 2032. The AI Jobs Institute, set to open in Queens, will offer workforce training, employer connections, and policy research, funded jointly by state and city agencies alongside private companies. The move follows New York’s recent surge in tech employment, surpassing the San Francisco Bay Area as the largest metro hub for tech workers in North America. With AI reshaping industries, the program seeks to address labor market shifts while ensuring New Yorkers gain skills to compete in the evolving economy.
New York has more tech workers than any other metro area in North America. And now, it’ll have a new training hub in Queens, as the city and state invest $10 million to bring tens of thousands of lower-income New Yorkers into the AI workforce. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced the AI Jobs Institute, a Long Island City hub that the nonprofit Pursuit will design and run. It aims to train up to 40,000 New Yorkers for AI-related jobs by 2032, link them to employers and produce research to guide state and federal workforce policy. Public funds come from a number of sources, including the Empire State Development, the city’s Economic Development Corporation, and the Queens Borough President’s Office. Private funders, including Ascendium Education Group, Google.org, Wells Fargo, Con Edison and Adobe, will pay to operate it. “During a time when AI is transforming our workforce and causing uncertainty, New York is continuing to lead the nation with policies and training to ensure New Yorkers workers are protected and prepared for the future,” Hochul told Fortune. The hub opens into a tech labor market that has shifted toward New York. The metro area added 30,640 tech workers between 2022 and 2025, reaching 394,300 and passing the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time in the 13-year history of CBRE’s annual tech talent report. Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]: https://fortune.com/2026/10/22/new-york-city-queens-hub-ai-training-10-million-40000-workers/?utm_source=reddit/ submitted by /u/fortune [link] [comments]
