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Synopsis

In OpenAI Has Come for Education, Leon Furze examines OpenAI’s aggressive expansion into the global education system through multiple strategic fronts. He critiques the company’s recent partnership with Canvas (the world’s most popular learning management system) and the release of “study mode,” arguing these moves represent calculated incursions rather than genuine educational innovation. Furze draws parallels between OpenAI’s tactics and those historically employed by Microsoft and Google, including partnerships with educational institutions, government influence, and the creation of ecosystem lock-in.

He explores how learning management systems already constrain pedagogy by forcing educators to systematize learning into predetermined formats, and questions what happens when OpenAI’s chatbot takes control of content production across these platforms. Furze is particularly concerned about OpenAI’s study mode—which he found pedagogically flawed despite claims of expert input—and sees it as part of a larger strategy to position the company as the solution to problems it helped create.

The piece traces OpenAI’s multipronged approach: targeting students (their largest user base), educators (through unions and training programs), institutions (via LMS integration), and government policy (through economic blueprints and strategic partnerships). Unlike established tech companies whose products “actually work,” Furze argues that OpenAI’s offerings—from study mode to Agents—consistently fail to demonstrate understanding of education, pedagogy, or good curriculum design.

Originally published at: https://leonfurze.com/2025/07/31/openai-has-come-for-education/

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Links

• https://leonfurze.com/2025/07/31/openai-has-come-for-education/





• https://leonfurze.com/2025/06/05/artificial-intelligence-has-changed-the-way-i-write-forever-2/





• https://betterimagesofai.org





• https://leonfurze.com/2025/04/28/the-myth-of-inevitable-ai/





• https://leonfurze.com/2025/07/30/first-impressions-of-chatgpts-study-mode/





• https://leonfurze.com/2025/07/02/we-will-not-let-openai-write-our-education-policy/





• https://leonfurze.com/2025/02/28/hands-on-with-openais-operator/





• https://leonfurze.com/2025/07/19/initial-impressions-of-openais-agents-unfinished-unsuccessful-and-unsafe/





• https://leonfurze.com/2025/07/19/time-saved-is-the-wrong-measurement-for-teacher-workload-and-ai-2/





• https://leonfurze.com/2025/07/09/artificial-intelligence-and-assistive-technologies-a-practical-guide-2/





• https://bsky.app/profile/leonfurze.com

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