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Khanmigo's first chapter changed how I think about AI: A note from Sal Khan. July 15, 2026 By Sal Khan, Founder and CEO of Khan Academy Setting the record straight. I started Khan Academy as a nonprofit because I believed that access to a great education should not depend on where you live, how much money your family has, or whether you happen to find the right tutor at the right moment. So when I talk candidly about what Khan Academy is learning from AI, it is not because I am trying to lower expectations or walk away from the work. It is the opposite. If Khan Academy is serious about helping students learn, especially students who are not already well-served, then Khan Academy has to be honest about what is working, what is not working yet, and what needs to get better. Some people heard my recent comments about Khanmigo and interpreted them as "AI tutoring failed." That is not what I said, and it is not what I believe. What I said was that the first version of Khanmigo that Khan Academy launched three years ago did not change student learning as much as many of Khan Academy hoped it would. That matters. But it is also exactly the kind of thing you learn when you bring a new tool into real classrooms with real students and teachers. I want to set the record straight and clarify three things: 1. Khan Academy works. Decades of independent data prove its platform drives substantial learning gains. My comment was a candid observation about what Khan Academy learned when a brand-new medium was layered on to the existing, effective platform three years ago. 2. Khan Academy pride ourselves on being transparent and honest. The edtech landscape is currently flooded with flashy, unproven AI tools that make grand promises while offering little more than wrappers around major large language models with limited safety guardrails. Khanmigo was, and remains, a pedagogically sound AI tutor with guardrails that was built for students in classrooms. Most importantly, it is anchored on Khan Academy's demonstrably effective, human-crafted instructional and practice content. 3. The comment was in reference to the first version of its AI integration, and Khan Academy used that honest reflection to build something better. Khan Academy didn't give up; Khan Academy iterated. Khan Academy has used those early classroom insights to build a far more effective, next-generation learning experience within its proven learning platform. Why integration matters. The combination of Khan Academy's world-class, human-crafted, instructional materials and Khanmigo's ability to drive deeper engagement fixes the fundamental flaws of both traditional edtech and AI-only tools. 1. It replaces "cognitive offloading" with "cognitive onloading." Because Khanmigo is built directly into Khan Academy's practice problems, it can see the problem a student is working on and discuss it with them. Instead of handing over the answer, Khanmigo shows them where they might make mistakes and provides support for arriving at the correct answer. Using data to decide which changes to Khanmigo actually engage students more in learning, Khan Academy is working on new ways to help students engage in this conversation. 2. Khan Academy chose integration over isolation. In its next-generation tools, Khanmigo is no longer an add-on that requires students to recognize when they need help and understand how to ask for it. Khanmigo now prompts a student to explain how they arrived at an answer and explain their thinking. Students retain agency over whether they engage or not, but Khan Academy has reduced the metacognitive load required for them to do so. This is not AI for AI's sake. It is leveraging AI to increase students' learning and reflection. 3. It multiplies teacher capacity. A teacher with 30 students cannot sit next to every child to catch a mistake the moment it happens. Khan Academy has always provided teachers with a data-driven map of who has mastered a concept and who is stuck. Now, Khanmigo acts as the on-the-ground coach. It handles the immediate, granular feedback, which frees up the teacher to do the deeply human work of motivating a discouraged student or running a small-group intervention. What Khan Academy is seeing in schools. Khan Academy is not incorporating AI for AI's sake. Khan Academy is using it to provide scaffolding and feedback during independent practice. Let's be absolutely clear about what its data actually showed. For students who engaged, Khanmigo did what Khan Academy designed it to do. It probed reasoning, supported students as they worked through a concept, pushed back on logical fallacies, and behaved like a human tutor. But Khan Academy also learned something: if Khanmigo was going to help students think harder, it had to become more central to the practice experience. The AI could not just sit next to the content. It had to be woven into it. Khan Academy had to make productive struggle harder to sidestep. Unlike many AI tools that are still making broad promises, Khan Academy's work is grounded in evidence. In New Jersey, students in Newark Public Schools using Khan Academy saw math gains on their state assessments. That matters because Newark is not a boutique experiment. It is a real district serving real students. And it shows what is possible when trusted content, teacher insight, and thoughtful AI work together. Expectations and reality. When I first saw the early versions of GPT models in August of 2022, I was amazed by what they could already do and was excited by the potential. Some of that potential has been realized. The models are far better at math now than they were at the time. However, other aspects of that potential have not been realized. AI is not good at generating standards-aligned content on the fly, for example. Khan Academy has learned that it is far better when paired with its expert human-created content. In May 2024, I made a video with my son that showed a demo of a tutor that could see what Khan Academy were drawing and converse back and forth. Khan Academy is only now starting to see some of the model capabilities that would allow Khanmigo to interact with visuals outside of a demo environment. Some things I envisioned will happen more slowly. Some may not work out. And some will go on to help improve learner outcomes. Khan Academy will keep being transparent with you about what works, what doesn't, and what Khan Academy is learning along the way. The path forward: scaffolds, not shortcuts. The current debate in education is gridlocked in a false dichotomy: sweeping bans on technology versus a tech-utopian free-for-all. Both sides are wrong. The answer isn't to take away the laptops; the answer is to give students tools that actually support student learning. Families with time and resources will always find ways to provide elite tutoring for their children at home. If Khan Academy respond to the challenges of AI by banning it in schools, Khan Academy is putting up a velvet rope disguised as caution tape, denying under-resourced students the very tools that can level the playing field. The combination of Khan Academy and Khanmigo is a strong solution because it strikes the right balance. It provides the strict guardrails, safety protocols, and teacher oversight that schools require while also delivering the personalized, rigorous intellectual push that students need. Districts use Khan Academy to drive student learning. See how trusted content and trusted AI are woven into a journey that celebrates persistence and progress with playful rewards.

7 ways Texas math teachers can use Khan Academy's complete teks-aligned math sequence. July 6, 2026 Free, standards-aligned math support for Texas classrooms, now from 3rd grade through high school. Texas math teachers have a lot to juggle: standards, pacing guides, practice, review, intervention, enrichment, test prep, and students who all need something a little different. Khan Academy is here to help. Thanks to support from the ExxonMobil Foundation, Khan Academy has added two new TEKS-aligned math courses: Statistics and Financial Mathematics. These courses join its growing Texas math sequence, which now offers free, TEKS-aligned math support from 3rd grade through high school. Need practice for tomorrow, support for students who are stuck, enrichment for students who are ready for more, or real-world math that finally answers the question, "When am I ever going to use this?" Here are seven ways to use Khan Academy's Texas math courses this year. 1. Start with the course you teach. Khan Academy's Texas math sequence now includes: * 3rd Grade Math (released 2025) * 4th Grade Math (released 2025) * 5th Grade Math (released 2024) * 6th Grade Math (released 2024) * 7th Grade Math (released 2024) * 8th Grade Math (released 2024) * Algebra 1 (released 2024) * Geometry (released 2025) * Algebra 2 (released 2025) * Precalculus (released 2025) * Statistics (new) * Financial Mathematics (new) Each course is aligned to Texas standards, so students can practice skills connected to what they're learning in class. That means less time searching for "something that kind of fits" and more time getting students into practice that is actually tied to your course. 2. Build practice into the routines you already have. You do not need to overhaul your lesson plans to use Khan Academy. Teachers can use Khan Academy for the following: * Warm-ups * Homework * Exit tickets * Review days * Independent practice * Intervention * Enrichment * Test prep * Catch-up work after absences Students can learn by watching videos, reading articles, and doing exercises at their own pace. And when they get stuck, full explanations help them understand the reasoning behind the answer, instead of just telling them whether they got it right. 3. Help students see why statistics matters. Statistics are everywhere: polls, sports, health studies, social media, weather forecasts, news stories, and basically every chart students scroll past online. Khan Academy's new TEKS Statistics course helps students move beyond simply making graphs. They learn to * interpret distributions, * describe variability, * explore probability, * analyze real-world data, and * evaluate the validity of studies. For teachers, this course supports the kind of statistical thinking students need in college, careers, and everyday life by teaching them how to ask better questions, spot patterns, check claims, and explain what the data actually shows. 4. Make financial math feel real right away. Financial Mathematics may be one of the easiest math courses for connecting what students are learning to their actual lives. Khan Academy's new TEKS Financial Mathematics course helps students explore a myriad of questions: * What is the difference between hourly pay and salary? * How does overtime work? * What does college really cost? * How do car payments work? * What should I know before using a credit card? * How do taxes affect take-home pay? * How much would I need to save each month for a future goal? For students, the course makes math feel recognizable and relevant. For teachers, it provides a free, course-aligned resource for a subject that historically hasn't had enough strong teaching materials. 5. Sneak in more Algebra 1 practice without calling it that. Financial Mathematics also gives students another way to strengthen Algebra 1 skills through practical, real-life problems. Students practice real-world math skills, including: * Using formulas and variables * Working with rates and percentages * Solving multi-step calculations * Applying math to wages, taxes, loans, credit, and savings In other words, they are building financial literacy and reinforcing foundational math skills at the same time. That is a win. 6. Support the "I'm stuck" students and the "What's next?" students. Every classroom has both. Some students need more time with prerequisite skills. Some need a review before a quiz. Some are ready for a challenge. Because Khan Academy is free and self-paced, teachers can flexibly use it for students at different levels without creating five different versions of the same assignment from scratch. Use it as a core resource, a supplement, independent practice, extra review, or a way for students to keep learning when they are ready to move ahead. 7. Give families a free resource that actually matches Texas math. Families often want to help, but they may not know how to instruct students when a concept is not clicking. Khan Academy's Texas math courses give families a free, self-paced resource aligned to Texas standards. Students can use the course that matches their grade or class to review, practice, prepare for a test, or build confidence. It is support students can use at school, at home, or anywhere they have internet access. Get started today! All Khan Academy TEKS-aligned math courses are free and available.

This CEO is creating a new elite college degree with Google and Microsoft - and offering it for only $10,000. The goal is to rival elite schools like Harvard and Stanford. Copied to clipboard Key takeaways. * Sal Khan is launching the Khan TED Institute to offer a low-cost, AI-focused alternative to elite universities, starting with a Bachelor's degree in Applied AI. * The program aims to secure academic accreditation, open within 12 to 24 months and keep total tuition under $10,000. * Big-name employers, including Google, Microsoft, McKinsey, Bain and Accenture, are involved as partners. Khan Academy founder and CEO Sal Khan is teaming up with Google, Microsoft and McKinsey to offer students a new option for higher education. Khan announced this week that he is launching the Khan TED Institute, a new joint venture with TED and testing giant ETS. The idea is to offer an affordable, AI-focused degree that can compete with elite schools like Harvard and Stanford. "We think there are many good reasons to go to a traditional university, but not everyone has access to those opportunities," Khan said in a video announcing the program. "On top of that, the world is changing very, very, very fast. We want to make sure that there are ways even for people with traditional degrees to continue to reskill." Khan expects to launch the Khan TED Institute within the next one to two years and plans to seek accreditation as a full degree program. He aims to have a degree cost less than $10,000 total - just a sliver of what students pay at top-tier universities, where tuition alone is headed toward over $68,000 per year at Stanford and nearly $65,000 per year at Harvard. Who the program targets. The Khan TED Institute's first degree offering will be a Bachelor's in Applied AI, with the offerings set to expand over time, per Fortune. The coursework will be online and asynchronous, so students can set their own schedules. The program targets students from all backgrounds, whether they are recent high school graduates or mid-career professionals. "We think there are a lot of folks with existing degrees who want to reskill, who want to make sure their skills are relevant in an AI age," Khan said in the video. "So there might be something like a second Bachelor's program, with opportunity for transferring a significant number of credits if you already have a Bachelor's." He said the program could also appeal to those already in college who want to pursue a second degree relevant to their careers. According to Khan, the "competency-based" program bases the degree on the skills students can prove they've mastered, not on how many hours they spend in class. "We know there are many folks in the world who don't either have access to quality higher education or the traditional pathway might not make sense for them," Khan said. "So a competency-based pathway like what we're offering could be very interesting." Gen Z has a strained relationship with higher education. For many young people, college is starting to feel like a shaky investment. Today, more than 42 million Americans carry federal student loans, and the average borrower owes nearly $40,000. At the same time, new grads are finding it harder to land solid roles. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the unemployment rate of recent college graduates is 5.6%. Meanwhile, 42.5% of recent college graduates are working in jobs that don't require college degrees. It's no surprise, then, that in one recent survey by Indeed, just over half of Gen Z graduates said they regret going to college in the first place. Khan says the new institute will close the gap between higher education and the skills needed to succeed in the workforce by building its courses in partnership with major employers like Google, Microsoft, Accenture, Bain and McKinsey. The goal is to make sure students learn the AI and technical skills companies want, alongside softer skills like collaborating with others. "This really could make a positive dent in what the world needs," Khan said in the video. "We can create a world where more people really do have access to their potential and access to opportunity." Sherin shibu - news reporter. Entrepreneur Staff