The US govt just announced $145M for apprenticeship-based training in AI, semiconductors, and nuclear energy.
This as part of a push to reach 1M active apprentices nationwide.
Very powerful signal that AI work is being treated like a skilled trade, not just a white-collar degree job.
That includes deploying models, managing data centers, operating inference clusters, and handling the systems and hardware around them.
A lot of this workforce will be trained on the job, without needing a PhD or an elite CS background.
The incentive payments are “pay-for-performance,” so sponsors get paid when they create or expand apprenticeships and successfully move people through measurable milestones, rather than getting a big check up front for training activity.
Apprenticeship growth often stalls because sponsors eat early costs for setup, mentoring time, and administration before they know the program will scale.
The new setup funds up to 5 cooperative agreements, and the funding rules require at least 85% of dollars to flow out as incentive payments, with the incentive model proposed by applicants.
Mark Cuban on the next job wave.
Customized AI integration for small to mid-sized companies.
"Software is dead because everything's gonna be customized to your unique utilization. Who's gonna do it for them... And there are 33 mn companies in the US."