COLUMBUS, Ohio — Google is establishing its first office at Ohio State University as part of a multiyear partnership that will bring the company’s engineers to campus, expand access to artificial intelligence tools and create new opportunities for students and faculty.
The partnership, announced Sept. 29, will establish a Google presence in Ohio State’s west campus Innovation District. The agreement, expected to last three to four years, will also connect university researchers with Google’s DeepMind technology and provide funding for graduate students to work alongside company experts.
The financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.
The collaboration supports Ohio State’s AI Fluency initiative, which aims to integrate artificial intelligence education into undergraduate coursework regardless of major. Beginning with the Class of 2029, the university wants students to graduate with an understanding of how AI applies to their chosen fields.
Under the agreement, Ohio State will gain access to Gemini, Google’s AI platform. Google will also establish a research ambassador program connecting graduate students with company researchers and engineers.
The partnership will also connect Google’s research capabilities with university projects in biology, advanced materials and agriculture. University officials envision applications extending to administrative operations, health sciences and athletics.
Ohio State President Ravi Bellamkonda said the university intends to use the technology across disciplines rather than limit it to computer science and engineering.
“We want to reimagine what it is, the student experience at the university. We want to reimagine operations at the university. We want to reimagine how athletics does its business with analytics and data,” Bellamkonda said during the announcement.
The agreement also comes as students face uncertainty about how artificial intelligence will affect the jobs available to them after graduation.
Roshan Ramamurthy, a junior majoring in computer science at Ohio State, said concerns about internships and future employment have become common among his classmates.
“Everyone, especially in college, is thinking like we’re cooked, right? There’s no jobs,” Ramamurthy said. “AI is going to take all our jobs and everything.”
Ramamurthy has focused his studies on virtual and augmented reality, fields he believes will continue to develop alongside artificial intelligence. Although he is concerned about the changing job market, he also expects AI to create opportunities that require different skills.
Bellamkonda said preparing students for those changes is among the university’s priorities.
“The key is to be nimble and be part of the new jobs and the new economy,” he said.
For Ramamurthy, one of the partnership’s potential benefits is the opportunity to work directly with engineers who have experience developing technology outside the classroom.
He said undergraduate coursework has provided a foundation in computer science, but students often have limited opportunities to apply that knowledge professionally before securing an internship.
“Working with these professionals and engineers that have already worked on like actual projects, made money, like with fortune 500 companies and things like this, that’s going to benefit their learning experience,” Ramamurthy said.
The partnership could also provide students with professional connections that help them compete for internships and jobs, he said. Ramamurthy has not yet worked with Google’s engineers through the agreement.
Google officials said the initiative will involve faculty as well as students, including efforts to develop AI products that support learning rather than simply generate answers.
Chris Phillips, Google’s vice president and general manager of education, acknowledged concerns about the growing use of artificial intelligence in classrooms and emphasized the importance of keeping educators involved in decisions about the technology.
“There is a lot of people in this moment that are nervous about the application of AI and education, and it’s understandable,” Phillips said during the announcement. “It’s a very new, very powerful technology.”
Phillips said Google is working with academic and educational experts to incorporate principles of learning science into its products, including features designed to encourage active learning and adapt to individual students.
Ramamurthy already uses Google’s Gemini to prepare for exams. He said the program allows him to upload lecture slides and generate interactive quizzes, helping him review material without having to purchase a premium subscription.
He hopes the new partnership will provide opportunities beyond studying, including research experience and connections that could help him develop his own business.
“How much experience can I get before I graduate?” Ramamurthy said. “And then with that experience, can I applicate it to maybe have a startup.”
The office is expected to open in November.