OpenAI and CodeAI announced a partnership intended to give students and educators access to tools and resources that support learning about artificial intelligence. The announcement coincides with the launch of ChatGPT for Teens, a version of ChatGPT designed with learning at its center and aimed specifically at teenagers.
Why this matters
Today’s students will be the first generation to grow up with AI as a routine part of life. For parents and educators, the issue is not only whether young people will use AI, but whether they will learn to evaluate its outputs critically, understand its limitations, and use it responsibly.
There is currently a gap between use and understanding: while most students already use AI tools, only 16% of high school leaders say that all of their students are gaining the technical knowledge to understand AI in the classroom. A separate survey by CodeAI found that 75% of high school students believe understanding AI will be more important for their futures than it is now.
What ChatGPT for Teens offers
ChatGPT for Teens is built around learning goals: it aims to help teens think critically, deepen their understanding, and use AI with confidence. The experience includes built-in protections for teenagers, features to promote healthy use, and additional parental controls.
The Teens product builds on OpenAI’s ChatGPT for Teachers efforts, which aim to empower teachers and school districts to guide AI use. OpenAI is also continuing work with the American Federation of Teachers to develop AI skills.
Education around the technology
The OpenAI–CodeAI partnership focuses on the education that surrounds AI technology: helping teens understand how AI works, direct it, question it, and create with it. Teachers are expected to play a meaningful role in shaping how AI is introduced and used in classrooms.
Dr. Allison Mishkin, Head of Child Development at OpenAI, summarized the ambition: “Parents and educators want young people to be ready for a future shaped by AI—and they are right to expect that to come with care. Our goal is not simply to help more students use AI, but to help them ask better questions, think critically about the answers they receive, and use these tools responsibly. We look forward to working alongside CodeAI, parents, and educators to learn, improve, and help young people build those skills.”
Karim Meghji, CEO of CodeAI, emphasized the need for technical understanding: “Every student should know how AI actually works and be able to question the technology, catch its mistakes, and know when to stop trusting it. Give them that foundation, and AI becomes less a force shaping their future and instead something they can question, shape, and create on their own.”
Next steps and shared responsibility
Over the next year, OpenAI and CodeAI will focus on practical programs that help students understand AI, use it carefully, and explore how it can support learning and creativity.
The partnership stresses that preparing young people for an AI-shaped world is a shared responsibility: technology companies cannot do it alone. Parents, educators, students, researchers, policymakers, and civil-society organizations all have roles to play.
Through this collaboration, OpenAI and CodeAI aim to encourage more young people to approach AI with curiosity and confidence—tempered by judgment. They want students to learn to create with these tools without accepting every answer at face value, and to recognize that AI should support, not replace, guidance from teachers, families, and other trusted adults. This approach is intended to help the next generation become both capable users of AI and thoughtful participants in shaping its future.
