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KHAN ACADEMY | STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

Verizon

A partner recommendation

Recommend partnering with Verizon.

Verizon can pay Khan Academy to build a free AI-literacy unit that counts toward its goal of 10 million students.

Kudzanayi Shepherd Mhlanga 14 October 2026

Partner recommendation: Verizon | Kudzanayi Shepherd Mhlanga

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Agenda

1

Strategic fit

2

The partnership: model and value

3

Proven precedents

4

Reach

5

Risks and alternatives

Verizon

Khan Academy

pays for

the unit

reports

completions

Partner recommendation: Verizon | Kudzanayi Shepherd Mhlanga

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1 STRATEGIC FIT

Verizon needs 1.5M more students by 2030; Khan Academy can build what reaches them

The constraint on our side

Khan Academy's mission is a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. New content costs money: it spent about $11 million a year on content creation and released 24 new or expanded courses in SY24-25 (Form 990; Annual Report p.13).
A funded AI-literacy unit would land with students who already learn alongside AI: 770,000 US district students used Khanmigo in class in SY24-25 (p.10).
Paid for by a partner, the unit does not compete with the rest of the library for donor money.

Why Verizon could say yes

Verizon Innovative Learning had reached 8.5 million students by February 2025, cumulative since 2012, against a public goal of 10 million by 2030 (Verizon, 20 Feb 2025).
Its free portal already holds 500+ K-12 lessons built with partners such as Discovery Education and McGraw Hill, backed by over $1 billion in committed market value (same page).

Shared goal: a free AI-literacy unit, built by Khan Academy and funded by Verizon, that counts toward Verizon's 10 million students.

Partner recommendation: Verizon | Kudzanayi Shepherd Mhlanga

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2 THE PARTNERSHIP: MODEL AND VALUE

Licensing deal: Verizon pays; Khan Academy builds and owns

Verizon

Khan Academy

Build fee plus upkeep, over four school years

AI-literacy unit and termly completion reports

VERIZON GETS

A finished, standards-aligned AI-literacy unit for middle and high school, linked from Verizon Innovative Learning HQ.
Termly completion reports, counted by a method both sides agree in writing before the build starts.
Access to Khan Academy's US school audience: nearly 1.5 million licensed learners in 795 districts (Annual Report p.7).

KHAN ACADEMY GETS

Money paid for the build and four years of upkeep: an estimated $0.95M to $1.9M in total.
Ownership: the unit stays on Khan Academy and stays free after the deal ends.
A final-year refresh paid in year four, so the unit stays current after 2030 at no cost to Khan Academy.

Partner recommendation: Verizon | Kudzanayi Shepherd Mhlanga

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3 PROVEN PRECEDENTS

This shape is proven: companies already pay outside makers to build free AI lessons

Microsoft, 2020

Donated $7.5 million so Code.org could teach how AI works, and its ethics, from elementary to high school (Code.org, 1 Dec 2020).

Amazon, 2021

Gave Code.org $15 million to develop and launch one new AP computer-science curriculum (Amazon, 24 Feb 2021).

Verizon, 2023

Built standards-aligned lessons with Discovery Education for its free portal; terms not published (Verizon).

Not first of its kind. New here: Verizon counting students on a unit it links to.

Partner recommendation: Verizon | Kudzanayi Shepherd Mhlanga

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Somebody will ask whether anyone has done this. Microsoft donated $7.5 million to Code.org in December 2020 to teach how AI works, and its ethics, from elementary to high school (Code.org blog, 1 Dec 2020; GeekWire, 1 Dec 2020). That is the closest match: a company paying an outside maker for AI-literacy lessons it does not host. It also checks our price: one unit at a tenth to a fifth of a full K-12 AI curriculum is about $0.75M to $1.5M, inside our $0.5M to $1M build-fee range at the low end and above it at the high end. Amazon's $15 million Code.org gift (24 Feb 2021) was a donation for a full AP course. Verizon built lessons with Discovery Education for its portal, but the page does not say what it paid. Khan Academy has done a version of this before: Bank of America and Khan Academy built free financial-literacy content for BetterMoneyHabits.com in April 2013. No figure was published, and that content lived on Bank of America's site, the opposite of our hosting term, which shows the hosting question can be negotiated.

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4 REACH, OUR ASSUMPTIONS

If one licensed learner in ten finishes the unit, about 150,000 students count each year

1.5M

licensed learners in 795 US districts using Khan Academy in SY24-25 (Annual Report p.7)

× 1 in 10

assume one in ten finishes the unit; 104,900 already spend 18+ hours a year (p.8)

≈ 150K

students a year Verizon could count toward its goal

Over four school years that is up to 600,000 students, about 40% of the 1.5 million Verizon still needs by 2030.

REVENUE DIRECTION, NOT A FORECAST

• Deal size: about $950,000 to $1.9 million over four years: a $0.5M–$1M build fee plus 30% a year upkeep (our estimate).

• Sign as one four-year contract: an upkeep-only year ($150,000) would fall below the team's ~$250,000-a-year filter.

Partner recommendation: Verizon | Kudzanayi Shepherd Mhlanga

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5 RISKS AND ALTERNATIVES

Agree the counting rule first, and keep Verizon's name a credit line, not marketing

RISK

Trust: a phone company's name on AI lessons for children can read as marketing, and Verizon will cite our completion numbers in its public 10 million claim.

MITIGATION

Credit line only: no products, offers or links. Khan Academy keeps editorial control, sends aggregate counts only and approves how its figures are cited.

RISK

Money: if completions do not count toward Verizon's goal, years 2 to 4 are at risk; after 2030, keeping fast-dating AI content current becomes Khan Academy's bill.

MITIGATION

Agree the counting method in writing before the build. Sign one four-year contract with a final-year refresh paid by Verizon.

ALTERNATIVE

Verizon is not the only telecom close to Khan Academy: AT&T Foundation and Comcast already give, and either might fund the unit instead.

RESPONSE

Ask Verizon first: its public 2030 goal is what this unit serves. Check first that no AT&T or Comcast agreement limits other telecoms.

Partner recommendation: Verizon | Kudzanayi Shepherd Mhlanga

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The trust risk goes first because the unit is for children and carries Verizon's name. The answer is a credit line only: no products, offers or links, Khan Academy editorial control, aggregate counts only, and Khan Academy approves how its figures appear in Verizon's 10 million claim (our audience figures overlap, and Verizon's count is cumulative, so double counting is a real danger). The money risk has two parts: if completions do not count toward Verizon's goal, Verizon has little reason to keep paying in years 2 to 4; and after 2030 the upkeep becomes Khan Academy's bill. Agree the counting method first and sign one four-year contract with a final-year refresh. Student data is low risk here because Verizon receives aggregate counts only. Before approaching Verizon, check that no AT&T Foundation ($5M to $10M lifetime) or Comcast ($10M+ lifetime) agreement limits other telecoms, and that the Microsoft or Google agreements give them no rights over AI-literacy content.

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RECOMMENDATION

Recommend partnering with Verizon

Verizon can fund a free AI-literacy unit that counts toward its goal of 10 million students.

Why now: Verizon's goal ends in 2030, so every school year of delay shrinks the deal, and AI literacy is entering classrooms now.

WHAT WE KNOW

Verizon had reached 8.5 million of its 10 million students by Feb 2025 (Verizon). Microsoft paid Code.org $7.5 million for AI lessons (Dec 2020).

WHAT WE ASSUME

One learner in ten finishes the unit, and a $0.5M–$1M build fee. Both are our estimates, not sourced numbers.

THE ASK TO VERIZON

Would Verizon agree how completions count, then fund the build, four years of upkeep and a final-year refresh?

Partner recommendation: Verizon | Kudzanayi Shepherd Mhlanga

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EXTRA SLIDE | A SCHOOL WITHOUT KHAN ACADEMY DISTRICTS

South Delta School District, Rolling Fork, Mississippi

14%

of Algebra I students proficient on the 2026 state test, in a district ranked 117th of 133 (SchoolDigger)

98–100%

of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, across 548 students in three schools

Rebuilding

the high school is still being rebuilt after the March 2023 tornado; students are taught in Anguilla

Why this district: maths is weakest where it matters most for what comes next, and the disruption is something a building alone cannot fix.

WHAT KHAN ACADEMY DISTRICTS WOULD CHANGE

• The same practice and AI tutor wherever classes meet, plus a teacher view of who is slipping in pre-algebra before Algebra I.

• About $5,500 a year on Enterprise Starter ($10 per student). Research-based: no public evidence of a licence, not confirmed.

Partner recommendation: Verizon | Kudzanayi Shepherd Mhlanga

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This slide is based on public research, not a visit; I do not know the school personally. Khan Academy publishes no customer list, so I cannot confirm South Delta has no Districts licence. A search found no link between the district and Khan Academy or Khanmigo, and no statewide Mississippi deal (unlike Louisiana and Oklahoma). Proficiency and lunch figures are from SchoolDigger and should be checked against the Mississippi Department of Education. The district's 2025 state rating is C, so do not call it failing: the case is Algebra I results, poverty and the disruption since the tornado (WXVT Delta News). Classes are small, about 8 students per teacher at the high school, so teachers could act on the dashboard. Cost: 548 students at $10 per student per year on Enterprise Starter, US prices as of 8 September 2026.