University of California Davis
CA · AI Readiness #56 of 227
AIREDEX™ Score: 8.2 /10
UC Davis embedded a university-built, campus-trained AI chatbot directly into Canvas for everyday course use, and also has five named cross-disciplinary institutes spanning agriculture, engineering, ethics, and data science.
UC Davis named its chatbot Rocky, training it on campus-specific data for embedded Canvas use. The institutes' $34M+ in documented federal and philanthropic grants extends to student researchers across all five domains. The AI Council published a formal governance report in February 2025. The curriculum would benefit from a standalone AI major or minor, as several sister UC campuses have already built, along with an AI ethics course open across departments.
Pillar grades
- Commitment: B+
- Curriculum: A-
- Partnerships: B
- Research: B+
A(I)ttitude™: progressive
Selected Highlights
- AI Council published formal report February 2025; chaired by Vice Provost Michael Bradford; cross-campus membership confirmed across 8+ departments and divisions.
- UC Davis AI Council published 'Campus-Based Principles and Proposed Governance Structures to Support Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence' February 2025, meeting 2+ criteria (goals, governance, ethics, named programs).
- Multiple named AI capital commitments documented: $20M USDA/NSF AIFS (2020), $5M NSF AIVO (2025), $1.75M Google.org (2024), $500K NEH CAIEF, $1.5M California Learning Lab PAIRR, $2M Bezos Earth Fund — total exceeds $30M across distinct grants.
- Five named cross-disciplinary AI institutes/hubs confirmed: AIFS, AI Center in Engineering, CAIEF, CeDAR, AIVO — each with named director and active programming within past 2 years.
- CAIEF explicitly named ethics/responsible AI initiative with named director (Colin Milburn), NEH funding, and documented activity 2024–2025.