A decade after introducing millions of students to coding, Code.org is moving in a new direction. The nonprofit announced a major pivot toward AI education, positioning itself as the global leader in preparing classrooms for the age of intelligent systems.
In a letter to supporters, co-founder and CEO Hadi Partovi called 2025 a defining moment. He described AI as a force that is reshaping every part of society while most students remain unprepared to understand or influence it. To close that gap, Code.org plans to expand its curriculum beyond computer science fundamentals and focus on how AI works, how it should be managed, and who gets to shape its future.
The shift comes with an ambitious new campaign: the first-ever “Hour of AI.” Building on the success of its Hour of Code movement, the initiative aims to engage over 25 million learners worldwide. It will introduce interactive lessons that explain core AI concepts in accessible, age-appropriate ways while giving teachers free resources to bring these ideas into classrooms.
The organization’s 2024–25 Impact Report offers a look behind the mission. Since 2013, Code.org has spent more than $276 million developing its platform, training educators, and expanding global access. Roughly $123 million went to partnerships and professional learning programs, $70 million to curriculum development, and $41 million to diversity and marketing campaigns.
The report also highlights major donors. Amazon, Google, Microsoft, the Ballmer Group, and billionaire philanthropist Kenneth Griffin each contributed over $3 million this year. Microsoft’s president Brad Smith has been a visible supporter, helping promote Code.org’s AI-focused strategy. The nonprofit lists six lifetime supporters, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Ballmer Group, and Infosys, each having given more than $10 million since its founding.
For a project once defined by coding tutorials and colorful block-based exercises, the new direction signals a deeper goal. Code.org is no longer just teaching syntax. It’s attempting to give the next generation a framework for understanding the systems that will define their future.
To many, it’s simply a curriculum update. To others, it’s something more subtle, a sign of how education itself is beginning to mirror the technology it teaches.