Open University launches AI Hub with Microsoft. The real test is who actually shows up.
The Open University's new AI Hub, built in partnership with Microsoft and hosted on OpenLearn, offers free AI courses to anyone who wants them. It is a significant open-access initiative. Whether it reaches the learners who most need AI skills development is a separate, harder question.
By Wistl Editorial · · Higher Ed
The Open University launched its AI Hub in partnership with Microsoft in the first quarter of 2026, creating a free catalogue of AI courses hosted on OpenLearn, its open-access learning platform. The hub is designed to build confidence and skills in artificial intelligence for anyone who wants to engage with it, with no admission requirements, no fee and no qualification prerequisite. Analysis of the launch and its context was included in Neil Mosley's Q1 2026 review of online learning in UK higher education, published in April. The partnership with Microsoft reflects a pattern that is becomin