IBM ups technology training in Chinese schools

US tech giant IBM is beefing up efforts to promote free artificial intelligence and STEM-related courses at Chinese schools, aiming to prepare more students for future technology breakthroughs.

This comes as the tech company kicks off its AI Enlightenment Season in Beijing, where IBM Greater China CEO Alain Benichou offered a mathematics class to students from Tsinghua University High School.

"Mathematics is the foundation of science and provides strong support for every major progress of mankind. It will play a very important role for young people to enter the intelligent future and promote a new round of technological progress," Benichou said.

With the move, more than 2,000 staff and volunteers from IBM will offer AI and STEM-related courses to over 90,000 students across 50 cities in China.

"Through interesting and vivid subjects, we hope students will be seeded with the ambition of engaging in the technology sector and achieve technological breakthroughs in the future," he said.

This year is the second year of the company's AI Enlightenment Season. Compared with the first season, this year's move makes some upgrades to courses and offers flexible teaching methods combining online and offline to benefit more students, IBM said.