The push for the bill comes amid the CSU system’s attempt to position itself as a global leader for the “impactful, responsible and equitable adoption of artificial intelligence” in higher education. Last year, the system announced a “first-of-its-kind public-private initiative” with leading tech companies including Google, Intel, NVIDIA and OpenAI to create an “AI-empowered higher education system.”
In 2025, it entered into a $17 million agreement with OpenAI to provide access to ChatGPT Edu to its 470,000 students and 63,000 faculty and staff for 18 months. Last month, the CSU renewed the controversial contract for three years at an annual price of $13 million. The system also entered into an agreement with OpenAI to pilot the company’s certification courses on AI skills at its campuses.
According to union leaders, the CSU has already attempted to outsource some faculty work to AI agents.