Welcome to Today in Tech. OpenAI is on a mission to weave ChatGPT into every corner of campus life. “Our vision is that, over time, A.I. would become part of the core infrastructure of higher education,” says Leah Belsky, OpenAI’s vice president of education. Imagine customized study bots for each class, career-interview chatbots in career services, even a voice-activated quiz on demand. OpenAI calls this new model “A.I.-native universities” and now offers ChatGPT Edu, a premium service with extra privacy protections for faculty and students.

The push has sparked a full-blown A.I. arms race among tech giants—Sam Altman versus Elon Musk, Google matching free premium access through finals 2026. Yet early research warns that outsourcing tasks to chatbots can erode critical thinking. As one billboard campaign put it: “Can you quiz me on the muscles of the leg?” And power users like Delphine Tai-Beauchamp at UC Irvine advise, “Ask it to explain something five different ways.”

With millions of students now using A.I. tools, universities are conducting what some call a national experiment in higher education. The question is: will it transform learning or leave students unprepared for the hard parts of thinking?
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