No city employs more tech workers than New York. Now it’s spending $10 million to train 40,000 people for AI jobs

New York has more tech workers than any other metro area in North America.

And now, it’ll have a new training hub in Queens, as the city and state invest $10 million to bring tens of thousands of lower-income New Yorkers into the AI workforce.

Gov.

Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced the AI Jobs Institute, a Long Island City hub that the nonprofit Pursuit will design and run.

It aims to train up to 40,000 New Yorkers for AI-related jobs by 2032, link them to employers and produce research to guide state and federal workforce policy.

Public funds come from a number of sources, including the Empire State Development, the city’s Economic Development Corporation, and the Queens Borough President’s Office.

Private funders, including Ascendium Education Group, Google.org, Wells Fargo , Con Edison and Adobe , will pay to operate it.

“During a time when AI is transforming our workforce and causing uncertainty, New York is continuing to lead the nation with policies and training to ensure New Yorkers workers are protected and prepared for the future,” Hochul told Fortune .

“The AI Jobs Institute will connect thousands of New Yorkers with cutting-edge courses and career pathways, giving them the opportunity to keep up with rapidly evolving technology.

By investing in our people, we are building a workforce ready to compete for the good-paying jobs of tomorrow.” The hub opens into a tech labor market that has shifted toward New York.

The metro area added 30,640 tech workers between 2022 and 2025, reaching 394,300 and passing the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time in the 13-year history of CBRE’s annual tech talent report .

Much of that growth came from banks and other financial firms hiring AI talent, though the Bay Area still employs more AI specialists .

Hochul’s FutureWorks Commission is due to deliver proposals by the end of December on job training and placement, job quality, the social safety net and support for small businesses.

“The city alone is going to need millions and millions of workers upskilled in AI to be able to fill the job needs of the economy by 2030,” Pursuit CEO Nick Simmons told Fortune .