OpenAI and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) have launched a collaborative pilot project to bring generative artificial intelligence training to approximately 1,000 older adults across ten United States cities. According to reports from September 2026, the initiative operates under the OpenAI Academy banner and utilizes the infrastructure of OATS (Older Adults Technology Services), an affiliate organization of AARP.
Cities and Workshop Structure
The free, in-person workshops target specific urban areas to bridge the generational digital divide. Participating locations include Denver, Miami, San Antonio, St. Louis, Boise, New York City’s Queens borough, the Twin Cities, Nashville, and Fresno, according to program details. An early session took place at the central library in San Antonio, where approximately 100 older participants gathered for an AI Skills Jam focused on data privacy and everyday utility.
Practical Application and Safety Focus
Workshops concentrate on functional tasks and digital safety protocols. Instructors teach attendees how to use generative AI for drafting emails, summarizing lengthy documents, and planning travel itineraries. A central component of the curriculum involves security awareness, specifically instructing seniors on how to deploy AI tools to spot online scams and evaluate information regarding medication interactions.
Demographics of AI Adoption
The partnership responds to shifting user metrics across generative platforms. While core ChatGPT usage skews heavily toward professionals under the age of 45, internal data from OpenAI indicates that the share of traffic originating from US users aged 55 and older grew from 6 percent to nearly 10 percent over a one-year period. AARP brings a membership base of approximately 38 million individuals to the outreach effort.