80,000 Teachers Trained: Google's Free AI Course Now in Bihar, MP and Sikkim

Google has expanded its free AI training programme for Indian teachers to three more states. The company announced this week that its “AI Educator Series” will now reach Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Sikkim, along with the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. More than 80,000 educators have already completed the training since it started in May 2026.

The announcement came as part of a wider set of India-focused AI initiatives that Google detailed in its official announcement. The teacher-training expansion was reported by The Times of India, Business Today and several education publications.

What Google announced this week

Google launched the AI Educator Series in India in May 2026, working with five state and regional partners. The programme is mobile-first, so teachers can complete it on their phones. In the five months since launch, it has trained over 80,000 educators across the country.

The new partnerships take that number further. Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Sikkim have joined as state partners, and the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has come on board too. Alongside the state tie-ups, Google is opening the programme to every teacher in the country as a free online course they can finish at their own pace.

The curriculum follows the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. It is built as short, flexible modules, so teachers can fit the training around school hours instead of rearranging their day for it.

What teachers actually learn in the course

The training stays practical. It shows teachers how to use tools like Gemini and Gemini Notebook to prepare lesson plans, build learning aids for their own classes, and cut down the time spent on routine preparation. The idea is simple: less time on paperwork, more time for students.

“To help teachers reclaim time for what matters most - mentoring and inspiring students - we launched the Google AI Educator Series in India this May in partnership with five state and regional partners.” — Google, in its official announcement

This matters because a teacher’s working day in India rarely ends with the last bell. Checking copies, preparing the next day’s lessons and maintaining records eat into evenings. A tool that drafts a worksheet or organises a lesson plan in minutes can genuinely change how that evening looks.

Your language is coming soon

Right now, the online course is available only in English. That will change soon. Google says versions in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Assamese, Odia and Punjabi will be released later this month. For teachers in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and the Hindi belt, the Hindi version should make the training far more usable than an English-only course.

Google had already promised Indian-language versions when the programme launched in May. The company had said the training would be fully localised into six Indian languages in its first year, starting with select state pilots. The October release keeps that promise on schedule.

Beyond classrooms: labs, IIT Bombay and research

The expansion reaches beyond school classrooms. Google is also supporting educators across 100 Atal Tinkering Labs through a new Gemini-powered desktop application called ATL Saathi, built specifically for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) teaching.

In higher education, the company has tied up with IIT Bombay and the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to support research on how AI can be used in teaching. These partnerships aim to keep the work grounded in real classrooms rather than research labs alone.

The teacher-training push sits inside a larger India announcement. Google DeepMind and Google.org are also funding crop-science research with ICRISAT in Hyderabad, and Google.org is giving a $15 million grant to the non-profit The/Nudge for AI tools aimed at small businesses. But for students and teachers, the educator programme is the part that lands closest to home.

How teachers can access the free course

Google describes the online version as free and self-paced, open to educators across India. Here is what is known so far:

• The course is free and self-paced, and it is open to educators across India.
• It is available in English right now. Check back later this month for the Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Assamese, Odia and Punjabi versions.
• In Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Sikkim, the state education departments will handle the rollout under the new partnerships, with details to follow.
• For the official details, read Google’s own announcement.

States are investing in education capacity in other ways too. Telangana, for example, is setting up 29 free coaching centres for JEE, NEET and CLAT for its government school students. Keep an eye on our education news section for more updates like this.