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- UCSF Launches ChatGPT Enterprise Across Entire Health System (Feb 17)
- Fortune: "AI-Washing" – Companies Blame AI for 1.2M Layoffs, But Only 55K Actually AI-Related
- EdWeek: 70% of Parents Oppose AI Access to Student Grades & Data
- Anthropic Opens Bengaluru Office, India Expansion, Local Hiring (Feb 16)
- Students Lead AI Research in Higher Education – First-Hand Faculty & Institutional Insights
UCSF Goes All-In: ChatGPT Enterprise Launches Across Entire Health System
The University of California, San Francisco deployed OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise across its entire health system today (Feb 17). This private, secure version replaces UCSF's legacy Versa Chat platform and is available to all UCSF faculty, staff, and students via Web, iOS, and Android. It provides access to the latest OpenAI models with enterprise-grade security and data protection.
Implication for higher education: UCSF's full deployment signals institutional confidence in OpenAI as a strategic vendor. Other major research universities will likely follow—this is a watershed moment for enterprise AI adoption in academia.
Action item: If your institution hasn't evaluated ChatGPT Enterprise, schedule a vendor demo this week. Ask: Does it meet FERPA, HIPAA, and your state privacy requirements? What is the true cost of ownership (licensing + training + governance)?
"AI Washing": The Layoff Scandal Hiding Behind AI
A Fortune investigation reveals that U.S. companies announced 1.2 million layoffs in 2025—nearly double 2024's total. But here's the catch: AI was cited as the reason for only 55,000 of those cuts (4.5%). The remaining 95.5% were cost-cutting, restructuring, or profit-maximization—rebranded as "AI transformation."
Companies like Amazon cut 16,000 workers but attributed it to AI. Most were not actually replaced by AI—they were eliminated to boost shareholder value. This pattern is accelerating into Q1 2026, with more than 108,000 cuts announced in January alone.
Implication for higher education: Your graduates are entering a job market where employers are cutting ruthlessly and blaming AI. This erodes trust in employer messaging and makes career preparation nearly impossible—because the real reason for job loss is often hidden.
Action item: Update career services messaging. Teach students to ask employers directly: "Is this role being eliminated due to AI automation, or restructuring?" Help them distinguish between real AI displacement and "AI washing."
Parents Say No: 70% Oppose AI Access to Student Data
An EdWeek poll found that nearly 7 in 10 parents (70%) do not support schools using AI software to store and analyze student grades, assessment data, or other personal information. This is a sharp rejection of AI in K–12, with parents worried about privacy, bias, and data misuse.
The finding extends to higher education as well. Parents are asking: Who owns student data? How is it protected? What guarantees exist against misuse or third-party sharing?
Implication for higher education: If you're considering AI-powered student analytics, predictive retention systems, or learning-management AI tools, expect parent and student pushback. Data governance is now a reputational and legal risk.
Action item: Review your current use of student data in AI systems. Create a public-facing data-governance statement: What student data do you use? For what purpose? Who has access? Communicate this to parents, students, and trustees.
Anthropic Expands Globally: Opens Bengaluru Office, India Hiring Push
Anthropic announced the opening of its first India office in Bengaluru on Feb 16, marking its second major presence in Asia. The company is hiring local talent and announcing new partnerships across Indian sectors including healthcare, finance, and education. This is Anthropic's major play to compete with OpenAI in the second-largest AI talent market globally.
Implication for higher education: The geopolitics of AI are reshaping. Indian universities and institutions will see direct engagement from Anthropic. U.S. institutions should monitor: Which AI vendors are investing in which regions? What does that signal about long-term vendor reliability?
Action item: If your institution has international partnerships or satellite campuses, ensure they're not locked into a single vendor's ecosystem. Diversify your AI vendor portfolio to hedge geopolitical risk.
Students Leading the Research: First-Hand Insights on AI in Higher Ed
A new report authored by student researchers reveals critical insights into how AI is reshaping college learning from the student perspective. Rather than waiting for external consultants, institutions are empowering students to study AI's impact on their own education—and the findings are offering faculty and institutional leaders actionable guidance.
Implication for higher education: Students are becoming researchers of their own experience. Their insights on AI literacy, bias, and pedagogical change are often more credible (and more honest) than top-down institutional assessments.
Action item: Launch a student research initiative on AI in your institution. Ask: How are students using AI? What concerns do they have? What skills do they wish they'd learned? Publish findings internally and externally—it builds institutional credibility.
Try Something New Today
Conduct a "data audit" with your registrar, admissions, and IT teams. Map all the places where student data is currently stored, processed, or accessed by AI systems. Create a simple spreadsheet: Data type | System | Purpose | Third-party access | Governance policy. This single exercise will expose gaps and vulnerabilities in your AI governance.
A Final Reflection for Today: February 17, 2026: UCSF commits to ChatGPT Enterprise. Fortune exposes "AI washing." Parents reject AI access to student data. Anthropic plants its flag in India. And students are studying themselves studying AI. The narrative is clear—institutions are accelerating their AI commitments, but trust is fracturing. Your role as a leader is to move fast on capability while moving slowly on governance. Speed without trust is recklessness.
HigherEd AI Daily