This message was originally shared to subscribers July 24, 2025.
The Trump administration’s AI action plan has arrived. The plan pushes for fewer rules, more data centers, and keeping AI infrastructure American-made.
Meanwhile, new research shows most students use tools like ChatGPT to brainstorm, get feedback, or save time, not replace learning. SUNY campuses are adapting fast, and faculty are rethinking what good teaching looks like in an AI-rich world.
The United Kingdom launched a $225M AI supercomputer to detect everything from cow illness to skin cancer. In the United States, AI spending is fueling an economic surge.
From policy to pedagogy, things are moving fast. Let’s dive in.
News and Views
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Academia and Education
- OpenAI and Microsoft Bankroll New A.I. Training for Teachers (The New York Times)
- Exclusive: White House Announces AI Education Pledge (Axios)
- How Are Students Really Using AI? (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
- Have Chatbots Killed the Student Essay? (Times Higher Education)
- Chatbots in the Classroom: How AI Is Reshaping Higher Education (Financial Times)
- AI-Enabled Cheating Points to ‘Untenable’ Peer Review System (Inside Higher Ed)
- How AI Is Making Its Way Into Upstate Colleges (Times Union)
- New Report Calls for Faculty Control in AI Decisions (AAUP)
Policy, Ethics and Governance
- Winning the Race: AMERICA’S AI ACTION PLAN (The White House)
- Thoughts on America’s AI Action Plan (Anthropic)
- Inside Trump’s Long-Awaited AI Strategy (Time)
- White House Announces $92 Billion for AI and Energy Investment in Pennsylvania (The White House)
- The Need for Transparency in Frontier AI (Anthropic)
- AI Ethical Guidelines (Educause)
- Tech Giants Warn Window to Monitor AI Reasoning Is Closing, Urge Action (Tech Xplore)
Science and Society
- Nvidia Says New AI Weather Forecasting Model Boosts Speed, Accuracy (Axios)
- UK Switches on AI Supercomputer That Will Help Spot Sick Cows and Skin Cancer (The Guardian)
- AI and Gravity-Defying US GDP (Reuters)
Tech Industry and Market Moves
- Shadow AI Emerges in the Enterprise (CIO Dive)
- OpenAI, Perplexity Challenge Google’s Dominance in Online Search with New AI-Powered Web Browsers (Euro News)
- Oracle and OpenAI Will Develop an Additional 4.5 Gigawatts of Data Center Capacity (CNBC)
Tools, Research and Capabilities
- Introducing ChatGPT Agent: Bridging Research and Action (OpenAI)
- Chain-of-Thought Is Not Explainability (alphaXiv)
- A.I. vs. A.I. (The New York Times)
- Deloitte: The GenAI Dossier (Deloitte)
- Innovation Used to Be About Generations. Gen AI Makes It About Everyone (PYMNTS)
This Issue’s Tip: Use Prompts Like Menus, Not Magic Words
Don’t stress about writing the “perfect” prompt. Instead, think of your prompt like placing an order at a restaurant. Be clear about what you want, include any preferences (tone, format, audience), and don’t be afraid to ask follow-up questions if the first response isn’t quite right.
➡️ Example: Instead of “Summarize this article,” try:
“Summarize this article in 3 bullet points, then explain how it might affect university faculty.”
Good AI results start with good conversation. You don’t need to be a coder—just a curious communicator.
This Issue’s Prompt: Plan a Summer Day
A prompt is how you ask generative AI tools to do something for you (e.g., creating, summarizing, editing or transforming). Treat it like a conversation, using clear language and enough context to get the result you have in mind.
To get more practice, use the generative AI tool of your choice (for example, Microsoft Copilot, OpenAI ChatGPT or Anthropic Claude) to execute the following prompt:
“Plan my perfect summer day based on my preferences. Suggest activities, meals, and music I might enjoy. Add one unexpected twist, like a surprise guest or spontaneous detour. Then create a simple itinerary and a packing list to go with it.”
Helpful Resources
Thank you for reading. Go Orange!