Microsoft has partnered with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) to establish the "National AI Safety & Privacy Standard" for schools. This agreement creates legally enforceable protections for student and educator data, aiming to set an industry benchmark in the absence of significant federal or state regulations on AI in education.
The new standard, which school districts can add to their existing Microsoft contracts, prohibits the company from using student or educator data to train AI models. It also holds Microsoft contractually liable for breaches, ensures human oversight is required for AI-driven decisions, and mandates transparency for parents and educators about how the technology works. The protections will automatically apply to all U.S. school districts with Microsoft agreements starting November 1.