AI literacy is popular at the DOL

The US Department of Labor (DOL) is intensifying efforts to ready the US workforce for the age of AI. The agency announced multiple programs and partnerships in the last several weeks, including a text-message-based AI literacy course, as federal officials work to understand AI’s impacts on the workforce and help US workers participate.

The move comes as part of the Trump administration’s initiatives to remake the American workforce for the age of AI and comes as the president lays out his policy vision for AI.

“This initiative will help demystify AI for American workers,” US Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said in a press release announcing the new text literacy program. “We are seeing AI create new jobs, new levels of productivity, and new forms of entrepreneurship, and we want to make sure all Americans have the skills to share in that prosperity.”

The batch of 2026 initiatives comes after officials introduced a framework in February outlining its guidance on AI literacy across the US workforce. Late last month the DOL introduced the “Make America AI-Ready” initiative, the text-based AI literacy course.

Last week, the DOL also announced a partnership with the US National Science Foundation on AI literacy. The NSF’s TechAccess: AI-Ready America (NSF AI-Ready America) program aims to expand access to AI tools and training across the US for individuals, employees, and businesses. It claims its work with the DOL will advance efforts to prepare US workers to participate in the AI-enabled workforce, supporting training and transition efforts for workers, and researching AI’s impact on the labor market and economy.

The partnership aligns federal workforce and education programs on AI literacy across agencies and connects jobs and apprenticeship programs to the learning efforts, according to DOL.

The move follows plans to incorporate AI literacy into registered apprenticeships programs. The DOL apprenticeship initiative focuses on “embedding” AI into existing programs, adding it to programs where roles “directly build, manage, or apply AI technologies,” and efforts to strengthen the talent pipelines for industries critical to AI like data centers and telecommunications, according to the DOL.