El Salvador partners with xAI on nationwide AI education plan

Elon Musk’s AI company xAI has signed a two-year partnership with the government of El Salvador to roll out what officials describe as the world’s first nationwide AI-powered education programme.

Announced by President Nayib Bukele, the initiative will deploy xAI’s Grok model as a personalised tutoring tool for more than one million students across over 5,000 public schools, embedding AI directly into the national education system.

The programme aims to reduce educational inequality by adapting lessons to individual learning pace and ability, covering core subjects such as mathematics, science and English. Teachers are expected to use AI tools to support lesson planning, grading and administrative work.

For xAI, the deal represents a large-scale real-world test of Grok in a public-sector setting, while for El Salvador, it aligns with Bukele’s strategy of using disruptive technologies to drive social and economic transformation.

The partnership has also raised questions about data protection, ethics, and infrastructure limitations. xAI says it will develop local safety standards and explore offline capabilities, with the programme’s impact likely to be closely watched internationally.

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