{"id":202837,"date":"2026-03-03T22:18:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/202837\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T22:18:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:18:30","slug":"city-of-san-jose-and-san-jose-state-university-open-ai-center-for-civic-and-social-good-at-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/202837\/","title":{"rendered":"City of San Jos\u00e9 and San Jos\u00e9 State University Open AI Center for Civic and Social Good at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library"},"content":{"rendered":"

On March 3, the City of San Jos\u00e9 and San Jos\u00e9 State University celebrated the opening of the AI Center for Civic and Social Good at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, a first-of-its-kind public space expanding access to artificial intelligence education tools and research for residents, students and workers.<\/p>\n

Located in downtown San Jos\u00e9, the center serves nearly a million residents, as well as the SJSU campus community of nearly 40,000 students and faculty. The initiative reflects a shared commitment by the city and the university to ensure emerging technology is accessible, inclusive and available to all.<\/p>\n

\u201cArtificial intelligence will influence nearly every sector of our economy,\u201d said Mayor Matt Mahan. \u201cOur responsibility is to ensure its benefits are widely shared. The AI Center gives residents, students and workers the tools to build skills, pursue meaningful careers and strengthen our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a year of planning, we\u2019re proud to open the AI Center in the King Library,\u201d said City Manager Jennifer Maguire. \u201cThis center will provide a space where we can leverage the talent of our residents to help develop solutions for real-world challenges and prepare our community to thrive in a time of rapid technological advancement.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The center represents a strong partnership between the city and SJSU, bringing together civic leadership and academic expertise within the nation\u2019s first joint city-university library.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniversities play a critical role in preparing people not just to adapt to technological change, but to shape it,\u201d said Cynthia Teniente-Matson, president of San Jos\u00e9 State University. \u201cThe AI Center brings students and the community together to explore responsible AI and apply their learning in ways that serve the public good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"SJSU<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tSJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson spoke at the ribbon-cutting for the AI Center for Social and Civic Good at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library on March 3. Photo: Brian Anderson, \u201924 MFA Digital Media Art.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"AI<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tDemonstrations of new technology were on display at the AI Center for Civic and Social Good at King Library. Photo: Brian Anderson, \u201924 MFA Digital Media Art.
\n\t\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

Opening-day demonstrations included an AI-enabled flight simulation by the SJSU Aviation and Technology Department, while city leaders highlighted how AI tools enhance operational efficiency and improve public service delivery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nicole Johnson, president and global director of social impact of the Cadence Giving Foundation, was thrilled to see that \u201cthe city and the university have collaborated on something so innovative and forward-thinking,\u201d adding that the foundation is \u201creally excited to be able to support that in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that there is going to be a lot of civic and social good from AI technology,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe\u2019re really excited about the emergence of, for example, physical AI that can help people in the communities where we live and work, things such as assistive technology and drug development and the work we foresee happening there has so much potential to do good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Johnsrud, the global director of education, learning and advocacy at Adobe, also shared his support.<\/p>\n

\u201cSan Jos\u00e9 State University and the City of San Jos\u00e9 are in our backyard. We\u2019ve always had a longtime partnership, and we\u2019re really committed to the next generation having responsible AI literacy skills and digital skills,\u201d Johnsrud said. \u201c What is better than this center to help them learn better and differently, and to stay more engaged when they\u2019re learning? This is setting them up for their careers in a workforce that is rapidly changing, and we know these kinds of skills are the durable skills they\u2019re gonna help them have not just good jobs, but meaningful careers.\u201d<\/p>\n

For San Jos\u00e9 Public Library, the center advances its longstanding mission of digital equity by expanding free access to emerging technology, educational resources and hands-on learning opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLibraries are among the most trusted and inclusive institutions in our communities,\u201d said Jill Bourne, San Jos\u00e9 city librarian. \u201cThe AI Center extends our commitment to providing free access to multilingual digital literacy resources and supportive programming that empowers individuals at every stage of learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The center also strengthens partnerships with organizations such as The Tech Interactive and expands youth programming through LEGO Education Computer Science and AI, introducing foundational skills in machine learning and creativity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis center represents the power of partnership,\u201d said Michael Meth, dean of the SJSU King Library. \u201cBy combining the reach of a public library with the research capacity of a major university, we are ensuring innovation remains accessible and responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Lasya Ramachandruni, \u201926 MS Data Science, the center offers unique opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe usually have a lot of projects that are happening for our courses in AI,\u201d Ramachandruni said. \u201cWe have data science projects and\u00a0 machinery projects. Every semester things are happening. We build some projects and there\u2019s no fruitful solution after what\u2019s next for it or why we\u2019re actually building the project, right? So I think this center has an opportunity to give back to society. We can build projects here where it can have a social impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AI Center offers a variety of AI literacy programs, from beginner to advanced levels, and drop-in hours for students and library cardholders. All programs are free and open to the public.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit: www.sjlibrary.org\/AIcenter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On March 3, the City of San Jos\u00e9 and San Jos\u00e9 State University celebrated the opening of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[88,90,89],"class_list":{"0":"post-202837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-san-jose","9":"tag-san-jose-headlines","10":"tag-san-jose-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}