Week in Edtech 6/11/25: OpenAI’s $10B Milestone, Meta’s AI Superteam, Grammarly’s $1B Raise, Ohio State’s AI Mandate, IXL & CodeHS Acquisitions, and More! Feat. Rod Danan of Prentus & Lars-Petter Kjos of We Are Learning

Jun 17, 2025

Rod Danan, Founder and CEO of Prentus, shares insights on bridging bootcamps to careers with community and coaching strategies to help job seekers thrive in an AI-driven world. Lars-Petter Kjos, Co-founder of We Are Learning, discusses how generative AI tools can revolutionize custom video content creation for educators. The conversation also touches on the impressive growth of OpenAI, AI regulation challenges, and innovative assessment methods, emphasizing how education and technology are evolving to meet the demands of a new generation.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

AI Reasoning Limits Revealed

Testing AI reasoning with puzzles highlights the limits of current models like large reasoning models (LRMs).
These types of tests reveal a mismatch between AI capabilities and traditional human education assessments focused on memorization.

ADVICE

Use Puzzles for Assessments

Schools should incorporate logical puzzles and games as assessments rather than relying on memorization tests.
Such assessments better measure reasoning skills and would excite students more than traditional exams.

INSIGHT

OpenAI's Breakout Growth

OpenAI's $10 billion ARR shows massive growth driven by ChatGPT’s consumer adoption.
The product keeps improving rapidly, fueling more widespread AI integration.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Send us a text

Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they explore the latest developments in education technology, from AI breakthroughs to high-stakes funding rounds and institutional shifts in AI strategy.

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:02:45] OpenAI’s $10B Annual Run Rate: ChatGPT drives unprecedented growth
[00:05:12] Anthropic CEO criticizes proposed 10-year ban on state AI regulation
[00:08:04] Google.org Accelerator: New cohort tackling generative AI for good
[00:10:17] News Sites Struggle as Google AI Summarizes Content
[00:13:33] Zuckerberg’s Meta Bets Big: $14B stake in Scale AI and ‘Superintelligence’ team
[00:17:02] Microsoft’s Plan to Rank AI Models by Safety
[00:19:20] Apple Research Paper Questions AI’s Reasoning Power
[00:21:46] Harvard Gets Backing in DEI Lawsuit from Ivies, Alumni
[00:24:09] Education Secretary Suggests Harvard May Regain Federal Grants
[00:26:48] Ohio State Requires AI Fluency Across All Students
[00:30:20] IXL Learning Acquires MyTutor to Expand Global Tutoring Reach
[00:32:55] CodeHS Acquires Tynker to Bolster K-12 CS Content
[00:35:30] Grammarly Secures $1B in Non-Dilutive Funding for M&A

Plus, special guests:

[00:38:12] Rod Danan, Founder of Prentus, on bridging bootcamps to careers with community and coaching
[00:46:10] Lars-Petter Kjos, Co-founder and CPO of We Are Learning, on building generative AI tools for educators to create custom video content at scale

😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders!

Follow our Podcast on:
Sign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.
Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!

🎉 Presenting Sponsor/s:

This season of Edtech Insiders is brought to you by Starbridge. Every year, K-12 districts and higher ed institutions spend over half a trillion dollars—but most sales teams miss the signals. Starbridge tracks early signs like board minutes, budget drafts, and strategic plans, then helps you turn them into personalized outreach—fast. Win the deal before it hits the RFP stage. That’s how top edtech teams stay ahead.

This season of Edtech Insiders is once again brought to you by Tuck Advisors, the M&A firm for EdTech companies. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 25 years of experience founding, investing in, and selling companies, Tuck believes you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do.