National University of Singapore partners with OpenAI for mandatory AI training

The National University of Singapore (NUS) has announced a strategic partnership with OpenAI to integrate artificial intelligence into its academic framework. Under this collaboration, all students, faculty, and staff will receive free access to ChatGPT Edu and Codex starting August 31, 2026. This initiative includes enterprise-grade security measures, ensuring that OpenAI cannot use institutional or user data to train its models.

As part of a new AI strategy, NUS will make AI competency a graduation requirement. Starting in the 2026/27 academic year, all undergraduates must complete at least two mandatory AI courses, including a module titled ‘Applied Generative AI: From Prompting to Evaluation’. The move aims to prepare approximately 29,600 undergraduates for an AI-driven economy.

The decision follows research indicating that a vast majority of Singaporean university students view AI literacy as essential for career competitiveness. The partnership will also support research collaborations, hackathons, and the development of real-world AI applications across the university.