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14 September 2026

Dear students, 

Our University is proudly leading through one of the biggest technology shifts our sector and society has faced – the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). We’re steadfast in keeping humans at the centre of this shift, and we take seriously our responsibility to support our community to adapt and succeed in a rapidly changing technological landscape. 

Today, I am pleased to announce that the University has signed a multi-year partnership with OpenAI that will provide access to ChatGPT Edu for all students and staff.  

This University-wide investment ensures every student and staff member has free and equitable access to advanced AI tools, along with training and support to use them well, regardless of background, discipline or position.  

When used responsibly and effectively, AI can enhance the educational experiences we provide, accelerate our research impact and improve our operations, making Sydney a better place to work and study. 

AI makes our uniquely human capabilities more important than ever. 

Those human capabilities we instil in each of our graduates – knowledge, skills, judgement, creativity, ethical awareness and adaptability – will be combined with the ability of our students to use AI effectively, enabling them to continue to thrive in the jobs of the future.  

As a research-intensive university, we are also uniquely positioned to play a leadership role in navigating the challenges presented by AI. I am delighted to announce that we have established a $1 million AI Sustainability Research and Innovation Fund. The Fund will bring together research expertise from across the University to better understand, measure and reduce the environmental impacts of AI, and explore opportunities for sustainable innovation. 

More information about these exciting announcements follows in this email. 

As a student here, you will develop the disciplinary expertise, critical thinking, creativity, and judgement needed to succeed in your chosen career. Your distinctly human capabilities cannot be replaced by technology, and they will be your greatest asset in an AI-enabled future. 

Tomorrow's leaders will also need to understand AI's ethical, social and environmental impacts, and possess the ability to work with this technology critically and responsibly. We will support you for that future by providing equitable access to advanced AI tools, and opportunities to develop your AI fluency skills.  

Every Sydney student will be equipped to engage effectively and confidently with AI at the University, and to develop the skills to work well with AI throughout your career. 

Today's announcement that the University has signed a multi-year partnership with OpenAI that will provide access to ChatGPT Edu for all students and staff will ensure every student has equitable access to advanced AI capabilities.

Our partnership with OpenAI follows a thorough procurement and evaluation process that considered multiple vendors and solutions. ChatGPT Edu is already trusted by many leading universities worldwide, and offers the capabilities to support our education, research and operations. 

Many students are already using ChatGPT as part of their learning. In June this year alone, our community logged more than 10 million sessions on ChatGPT, more than double that of any other public AI platform.  

OpenAI’s EDU platform will provide everyone with access to more advanced features beyond the standard free tool. It also offers a more secure platform for your work and conversations, with no data used to train any of OpenAI’s large language models (LLMs), and stronger protections for our people, privacy and intellectual property, as access is managed through University authentication.

ChatGPT Edu will be available to all students from Semester 1, 2027. 

At launch, you will have access to the University-approved baseline version of ChatGPT Edu, including the latest GPT models, conversational chat, shared project spaces for collaboration, and image generation capability. More capabilities will be introduced over time, ensuring the right training, safeguards and support are in place at each stage of the roll-out. 

Your voice plays an important role in how AI is introduced across the University.  

We are inviting students to take part in a pilot program that will shape the roll-out of ChatGPT Edu. As a pilot participant, you’ll have early access to ChatGPT Edu, build practical skills working with generative AI, and your ideas and feedback will help us create useful learning and support resources for all students. More information on participating in the student pilot will be shared soon. 

We also want your feedback to shape our long-term vision for AI as part of the student experience.  

We've released a Green Paper – a starting point for discussion among our community – on Education in the Age of AI. It explores how we can best prepare you to succeed, contribute and lead in a world increasingly shaped by AI and other emerging technologies. You can read an overview (pdf, 80KB), or the full Green Paper if you’d like more details. 

We invite your feedback on the paper, and to share your perspective on the role of AI in learning, assessment, employability, and the student experience. Submit your feedback by 25 September. 

As with all AI tools at the University, students are expected to use ChatGPT Edu responsibly and in line with our existing AI principles and guidelines. 

Your Unit of Study Coordinators and tutors will continue to offer guidance on which tools are best suited to different tasks and scenarios. Cogniti, our award-winning educator-controlled AI platform, will remain the University's preferred tool for teaching and learning activities. The University will continue to offer specialised and discipline-specific platforms, such as Harvey AI at Sydney Law School, and other tools to support your learning, such as Zoom AI Companion and Canva Pro. 

Using AI responsibly means knowing when and how to use it as part of your learning, while ensuring that you demonstrate your own capability and meet academic integrity requirements. As AI plays a growing role in your learning, we will continue to uphold high standards for academic integrity to ensure our qualifications provide trusted evidence of your knowledge and capabilities. 

For more information on the roll-out and support available, please visit the ChatGPT Edu Student page, Responsible AI page on the Student Website or email ict-chatgpt.edu@sydney.edu.au.

The environmental impact of AI is emerging as a significant challenge for organisations and governments worldwide, and we have a responsibility to contribute to local, national and global solutions. 

Our $1 million AI Sustainability Research and Innovation Fund will enable multidisciplinary collaboration to better understand, measure and reduce the environmental impacts of AI, and explore opportunities for sustainable innovation. Drawing on research strengths in energy systems, cooling technologies and lifecycle assessment, we can drive discoveries that will build a more sustainable path forward. 

Through these investments in our technology, people, and planet, we’re demonstrating how universities can lead for good in the age of AI. We remain committed to nurturing human capability, and to shaping emerging technologies in ways that benefit everyone. 

Regards,
Mark

Professor Mark Scott AO
Vice-Chancellor and President

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