Education in times of AI and Big EdTech

US Big Tech companies are tightening their grip on the foundations of AI, and they are increasingly building AI tools for specific sectors, including education. Here, their influence is growing across all levels of learning, but primary and secondary schools deserve particular attention. Here, these technologies reach children at scale and are often introduced through public policy.

To discuss this issue, the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), in collaboration with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) European Union and Global Dialogue Brussels Office, ALL DIGITAL and SOLIDAR+, will organise an expert meeting on 4 November 2026, 16:00-17:00, at the European Parliament. Bringing together members of the S&D Digital Europe Working Group, the meeting will launch and discuss Cecilia Rikap’s upcoming policy brief “Education in times of AI and Big EdTech: Why we need a public-led, democratic and community-centred EdTech stack”.

The brief looks at how AI is being adopted in primary and secondary education in Europe. It focuses on the growing role of US Big Tech in AI-enabled education and in AI literacy, and it highlights the main concerns this raises. It also explores how educational technologies could instead be developed and governed in ways that are democratic, sovereign and serve the public interest.

This expert meeting is upon invitation only. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact Monty Aal, FEPS Digital Policy Analyst (monty.aal@feps-europe.eu) or Vanessa Zwisele, FEPS Project Officer (vanessa.zwisele@feps-europe.eu).