The Brief

California State University is the nation’s largest public four-year system, with nearly half a million students. So it’s a big deal that starting this year, CSU will make OpenAI’s ChatGPT available to all those students and its faculty.

It’s also controversial.

The effort will cost the CSU nearly $17 million — even as the system faces a $2.3 billion budget gap. That gap persists despite a tuition increase and spending cuts that have meant fewer course offerings for students.

University officials say providing access to quality AI tools is an issue of equity. Across the system’s 23 campuses, some students were paying for their own ChatGPT subscriptions. CSU spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith said the goal is for all students to have “the same access to the tools and learning opportunities that will prepare them for the future,” regardless of which campus they attend.

The creep of AI is undeniable. On college campuses, it has transformed how students and professors approach tests and assignments. Students have filed lawsuits for being accused of using AI and sued college professors for using the tools many of them use regularly. AI has also diminished the earning potential of recently lucrative majors, leaving colleges in the position of trying to keep up.

Those efforts point to why, in recent years, OpenAI has established business deals with universities across the country, including multiple public institutions.

At what cost? For the most part, the company and colleges involved have not made the price of these services publicly available.

Public records obtained by LAist for universities across the country show CSU’s massive scale appears to have helped it land a deal on ChatGPT subscriptions, and that CSU has invested far more aggressively in generative AI tools than other public universities, both in dollars spent and in the number of students served.

In an email earlier this year, CSU’s Bentley-Smith said the system leveraged economies of scale “to ensure that the CSU paid the lowest price possible.”

What is ChatGPT Edu? And how are students and faculty using it?

OpenAI is a leading generative artificial intelligence company valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, despite currently operating at a loss. On its website, the company touts business deals with at least a dozen public and private colleges worldwide, ranging from Arizona State University to Oxford.

University officials say they want students at each Cal State campus to have access to the same learning tools.

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OpenAI provides these schools with a product called ChatGPT Edu, a chatbot specifically designed for college settings.

ChatGPT Edu is tailored to each campus. And with it, universities provide access to a mix of OpenAI products. This can include the company’s flagship model, ChatGPT‑5, along with other tools. ChatGPT Edu also enables students and faculty to make custom AI models. At Columbia University in New York City, for instance, faculty researchers built a prediction tool to help reduce overdose fatalities⁠. The model analyzes and synthesizes large datasets to inform interventions and, according to OpenAI, it enables the team to reduce “weeks of research work into seconds.”

ChatGPT Edu can also help with more run-of-the-mill work. Some of the tasks the company suggests include: personalized tutoring for students, helping researchers write grant applications and assisting faculty with grading.

A version of ChatGPT is available at no cost, but ChatGPT Edu allows for higher message limits than the free version. OpenAI also says student and faculty data are kept private and aren’t used to train its models.

(LAist requested an interview with Leah Belsky, OpenAI’s vice president of education, but a spokesperson said she was not available by the time of publication.)

Earlier this year, CSU launched a new AI initiative — a public-private partnership between the university system; the California governor’s office; and 10 tech giants, including Microsoft, NVIDIA and OpenAI.

The university system also put out a call for proposals, asking faculty to come up with strategies “that prepare students to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital world while promoting critical thinking, ethical AI use and integrating AI literacy into curricula.” In May, the CSU announced that it received more than 400 proposals from over 750 faculty members. Ultimately, 63 of those proposals were awarded $30,000 to $60,000 grants.

Leslie Kennedy, assistant vice chancellor of academic technology services, told LAist the $3 million in grants came from the division of academic and student affairs, which provides funding for special projects.

How CSU’s OpenAI contract compares to other public U.S. universities

The basic, free version of ChatGPT provides limited access to the chatbot’s core functions. For access to more advanced features, the average user can subscribe to ChatGPT Plus for $20 a month. (The highest level of access costs $200 a month.)

Public records show that, during the first six months of this year, CSU paid roughly $1.9 million dollars to make ChatGPT Edu available to 40,000 users. From July 2025 to June 2026, the university system will pay another $15 million to make the product available to 500,000 users. This, said spokesperson Bentley-Smith in an email, “represents a significant savings.”

It’s also clear CSU secured a far lower cost–per-student than other universities, in contracts reviewed by LAist:

Money flows the other direction, too. Redacted documents obtained from Texas A&M indicate that, in February 2025, OpenAI made a one-time gift of $50,000 to the Texas A&M Foundation, a nonprofit that operates independently from the university and manages private donations. The gift was earmarked for the development of generative AI literacy at the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station.

LAist asked other universities with OpenAI deals if they have plans to make ChatGPT available to everyone on campus; ASU, for example, enrolls nearly 200,000 students. At UMass Lowell, with more than 17,000 students, spokesperson David Joyner told LAist via email that “the university is evaluating generative AI options we may be able to offer broadly. However, we do not have current plans to license community-wide ChatGPT access." Other universities had not responded as of publication.

LAist is still waiting on public records for other public universities in the U.S. We will update this story as we obtain that information.

Friction between CSU leaders and educators

Despite CSU’s sizable discount, some educators have criticized the system’s gambit.

“For me, it's frightening,” said Kevin Wehr, a sociology professor at Sacramento State and chair of the California Faculty Association’s bargaining team. “I already have all sorts of problems with students engaging in plagiarism. This feels like it takes a shot of steroids and injects it in the arm of that particular beast.”

But Wehr said AI buy-in among faculty runs the gamut.

“I know faculty who are embracing [AI] with open arms. [They’re] building it into their curriculum, building it into their assignments, teaching students how to use these tools and how not to use these tools and what to be aware of and what the pitfalls and problems are,” he said. “And I want them to feel completely supported in their work.”

Wehr told LAist that faculty members' foremost concern is the technology's capacity to reshape the workforce. Faculty are also worried about harm to the environment, given the massive power needs to run AI, which include the increased use of fresh water to cool data centers.

Wehr also noted that chatbots sometimes generate inaccurate information, known as “hallucinations.” He also expressed concern over language learning models with built-in racial and gender biases.

Above all, Wehr expressed distaste for the expense at a time when the CSU is struggling financially. In his view, it speaks to misplaced priorities.

“We are cutting programs. We are merging campuses. We are laying off faculty. We are making it harder for students to graduate,” Wehr said. And instead of using that money to ameliorate those issues, he added, “we're giving it to the richest technology companies in the world."

Bentley-Smith, the CSU spokesperson, said the money for ChatGPT Edu “came from one-time funds from the Chancellor's Office, not from university budgets.”

The university’s vision for the future

LAist brought the faculty’s concerns to assistant vice chancellor Kennedy and the CSU’s chief information officer Ed Clark, who oversees IT strategy across CSU. Clark said the move was necessary from a system perspective.

“We were seeing certain universities that had more resources saying: ‘We're going to go sign a deal with X vendor or Y vendor,’” he said. “That was already happening in the CSU. For us at the system office, that's not OK, because then … you're a faculty member or a student at the wrong campus, you don't have access. So we wanted to make sure everybody had access.”

Clark added that the deal is important for individuals, too.

“Many people had already signed up for individual licenses for ChatGPT, whether they were faculty, staff, or students, but only the people that could afford that were doing that,” he said. “That was also leaving our community behind. So, we wanted to think about it system-wide in terms of access, equity, outcomes for all, and that is why we went system-wide.”

His words for critics? “Join us,” he said. “ Help us shape the future.”

Kennedy also responded to complaints from faculty who aren’t pleased with the pivot to AI.

“We still have a half a million students, even though we're being challenged with funding in general. And we still want to prepare them for the future,” she said. “That's why we moved ahead.”

The systemwide initiative was developed with recommendations from a CSU Generative AI committee. Members included CSU faculty senate appointees, a Cal State Student Association appointee and representatives from other CSU stakeholder groups. Three of about two dozen members were part of the faculty.

What happens when the deal expires?

Clark said the system has hired a firm to assess CSU’s return on its OpenAI investment. The success of the deal will be determined by taking a host of factors into account, including how ChatGPT is used in the classroom; student learning outcomes; administrative productivity; and environmental impact.

CSU’s contract with OpenAI is for 18 months total. It’s unclear how expensive a renewal would be, or how the system might use its leverage to negotiate with other companies.

“We knew things could change so rapidly that maybe something else would emerge and we said ‘maybe this is better now,” Clark said. “We did want to have that flexibility, but we are also very very happy with our partnership with OpenAI and the ChatGPT rollout at this moment.”

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority told its employees Friday to stop work, shut down their computers and stay off agency systems while it looked into “a potential security issue affecting our systems,” its chief executive confirmed to LAist.

That shutdown order was still in place Monday evening, according to a LAHSA official not authorized to speak on the record.

Gita O'Neill, the agency’s interim CEO, told LAist on Friday evening that the agency did not “yet have enough information to say definitively whether any sensitive or confidential personal information was accessed.”

She has not answered questions about whether or not services for unhoused people are disrupted.

Gita O’Neill, interim CEO of LAHSA, speaks ahead of the annual homeless count on Jan. 20, 2026.

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LAHSA holds highly sensitive information collected from people experiencing homelessness in the region. The agency oversees the Homeless Management Information System, or HMIS, which includes unhoused people’s names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and disabilities, as well as self-reported mental health and substance abuse history, income sources and domestic violence history.

In a statement Monday, LAHSA said it had taken its internal computer systems offline “as a precaution” and “engaged outside cybersecurity specialists to investigate the nature and scope of the incident.” The statement, sent on O'Neill's behalf by outside public relations strategist Trevor Daley, continued to call it “a potential cybersecurity incident.”

The agency is “taking steps to maintain essential operations,” the statement added, saying LAHSA “remains open” while the investigation continues. It said the agency is working with its technical and legal teams.

What staff were told

Friday’s email to "Team LAHSA" carried the subject line "URGENT: Log Off and Shut Down for the Week." LAist obtained a copy, and O'Neill confirmed by text message that she had sent it.

“As a precaution while we look into a potential security issue affecting our systems, we're asking all staff to stop work and take their machines offline for the remainder of today and through the weekend,” the email said.

It told employees to “Log off and shut down your LAHSA computer” and not to log back in or connect to LAHSA systems, including email, “until you receive an all-clear from us.”

The email also told staff to report anything “unusual” before shutting down, such as “files renaming on their own, unexpected pop-ups or messages.”

What LAHSA leadership has said

In a texted response to LAist on Friday evening, O'Neill said she asked staff to take their computers offline “out of an abundance of caution” while the agency’s IT team assessed the situation.

“Our IT team is actively reviewing the situation now and working to understand exactly what occurred and whether any information was affected,” she wrote. “Protecting people’s personal and confidential information is a top priority in that review.”

Leaders of three LAHSA-funded service providers told LAist on Monday afternoon that they had not received any communications from LAHSA about the potential cybersecurity issue. All three use the HMIS system that holds unhoused people’s personal details.

Previous attacks against another LA housing agency

Another L.A. housing agency was previously hit by cyberattacks. The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles — a separate agency known as HACLA — has said hackers got inside its network in 2022 and may have accessed people’s names, Social Security numbers, financial accounts numbers and medical information.

Two years later, HACLA was breached again, according to an official notice, with hackers potentially accessing names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and phone numbers.

LAist reporter Aaron Schrank contributed reporting to this story.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath announced Monday that she is running to be the county’s first elected chief executive. Horvath is the only candidate so far to enter the race, which is set for 2028.

The new executive post will take the place of the county’s appointed CEO and implement key priorities of the county Board of Supervisors. The executive will oversee the county budget, which is currently roughly $50 billion, and labor relations with more than 100,000 employees.

Horvath was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2022 and was re-elected in June to another four-year term. She represents the county’s 3rd District, which covers the San Fernando Valley and parts of the Westside and Central Los Angeles. She is a former mayor of West Hollywood.

The supervisor made her announcement Monday via social media and her campaign website. She called the race a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

The backstory

Voters created the position in 2024 when they approved Measure G, which was proposed by Supervisors Horvath and Janice Hahn.

Among other changes, the measure allowed the Board of Supervisors to expand from five to nine members by 2030 and established an independent Ethics Commission, which held its first meeting last month.

The pushback

On Monday, Supervisor Kathryn Barger issued a statement saying she believed it was “premature” to campaign for the new county executive position when it remained unclear whether “the office itself is constitutional.”

Barger pointed to questions raised by former federal judge Stephen Larson about whether California’s Constitution allows an elected county executive to veto board decisions, control county contracts and take on powers state law currently gives the Board of Supervisors.

“Moving forward with an office that would fundamentally change how Los Angeles County is governed, without first resolving these questions, is putting the cart before the horse,” Barger said in her statement. “We need clarity.”

The primary election is scheduled for March 7, 2028.

The Los Angeles Unified School District said it’s reviewing how to proceed after Google’s announcement last week that it will not allow schools to use its search engine unless they opt in to using artificial intelligence.

Google said that in the coming months, access to products like Gemini and Google Search would be turned off by default until schools turn them on, saying it believes “schools should have control over AI in their classroom.” But Google Search, by default, includes an AI chatbot and uses AI to summarize search results — meaning that schools that restrict AI would not have access to Google Search.

Earlier this school year, LAUSD implemented a moratorium on students using generative AI on district-issued devices.

“We are reviewing Google’s announcement and its potential implications for schools, educators and students,” said a spokesperson for LAUSD. “Los Angeles Unified believes emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, have the potential to enhance teaching and learning when introduced thoughtfully, responsibly and with clear safeguards.”

“Search and A.I. are deeply integrated,” Chris Phillips, vice president for education at Google, said to The New York Times. He told the outlet that if a school bans AI, students “will not have access to search, and they’ll see a message from their school that indicates it’s not available.”

Currently, students in LAUSD can still use Google to search for information, a district spokesperson said, but the AI mode — in which students can converse with the company’s chatbot, Gemini — is turned off. Some searches may still show an AI-generated summary or overview. The district has asked Google for a modification to allow the summaries to be turned off.

If a school does opt in to artificial intelligence, Google said it will offer a “guided learning” tool in its chatbot for student accounts “to help them work through problems without skipping straight to answers.”

The announcement has prompted outcry from advocates. "Google forced its AI products into classrooms, and parents fought back," said Lila Byock, founder of Schools Beyond Screens, the group that pushed for LAUSD’s AI moratorium, as well as the district’s screen time limit. "Now Google is refusing to take no for an answer. … Schools Beyond Screens calls on district leaders to reclaim their authority from corporate interests and divest from Google."

The district’s ad hoc committee on generative AI is scheduled to have its next meeting on Nov. 13.

Rep. Thomas Massie moved Monday to force a vote to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, setting the stage for a dramatic vote on whether to remove one of the Trump administration’s most prominent figures following sweeping election losses.

The impeachment resolution was introduced by Massie, a Kentucky Republican, as soon as the House opened for the first day of sessions after the midterms. It largely focuses on the war in Iran but also includes references to Hegseth’s role in carrying out military actions in Yemen and Venezuela.

Massie said the secretary’s actions amount to “high crimes and misdemeanors” and his leadership at the Pentagon “thus warrants impeachment.”

A vote in the House could come by mid-week, putting pressure on Republicans — many of whom blamed their election wipeout on the Iran war — but next steps are highly uncertain.

House Speaker Mike Johnson had tried to prevent this outcome, and warned lawmakers against impeaching the Defense secretary while the U.S. is engaged in military actions in the Middle East.

“Impeaching a Cabinet secretary right now, especially the Department of War in the middle of hostilities abroad would be a terrible, terrible look, a terrible thing for our allies and our enemies to see that,” Johnson, a Republican, said as he opened the chamber.

“We don’t impeach Cabinet secretaries for political gain or for cheap tricks, and I think that’s what this is and I think everybody knows it.”

Most House Democrats are expected to support impeaching Hegseth, with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries saying over the weekend it’s time for the Defense secretary to go.

If the House votes to impeach Hegseth, it would next go to the Senate for a potential trial. Republicans remain in the majority in both chambers, until the new Congress convenes in January with Democrats in control.

Hegseth issues his own defense and prepares for a fight

Hegseth maintains he’s eager to litigate the military actions that he and President Donald Trump have taken against Iran, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and Venezuela’s previous leaders.

“If you want to take issue with what we did in Epic Fury or Rough Rider or nabbing Nicolás Maduro, you’re taking issue with the troops and what they accomplished, which is historic,” Hegseth told reporters Monday, using the military code names for the Iran war and campaign of strikes to halt the Houthis’ attacks on shipping in the Middle East.

Hegseth also announced that he would hold a rare news conference on Tuesday — his first in over 180 days — on the impeachment threat. His last briefing was in May, and he has not held one on the Iran war, strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats or other U.S. military actions since then.

The Pentagon chief is bearing the brunt of anger and calls for his ouster after the Iran war and its economic impact contributed to severe Republican losses in the midterm elections that cost the party control of Congress.

Hegseth waves off impeachment push as ‘noise’

Hegseth, after giving a speech at the Naval War College in Rhode Island, brushed aside the impeachment push.

“There’s a lot of politically motivated people who may have substantial policy disagreements, but their disagreements are with success,” he told reporters. He added that “if we want to litigate” the military actions that the Trump administration has taken, “I’m happy to do it all day long.”

“My team, we’re not worried about the noise — it’s what I told the troops, too — ‘don’t worry about the noise,’” he said.

Asked about Vice President JD Vance blaming the Iran war for the massive GOP losses in the election, Hegseth noted that Trump said he would do it again, and “I agree.”

He largely repeated a line that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said to reporters a day earlier: “It doesn’t have to be necessarily popular, but it can be necessary.”

Hegseth argued that the war was necessary because “someone had to confront the Iranian regime’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon” and said “the choice was don’t act and wish it away or take a bold move.”

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Trump defended Hegseth to reporters on Sunday night.

“He’s guilty of two things, basically winning two wars,” Trump said. “I believe we saved the Middle East and Israel combined. And it’s awfully hard to say let’s impeach somebody who did that.”

Pentagon chief insists ‘Iran is devastated’

Hegseth reiterated that “Iran is devastated,” even though the Islamic Republic has been able to keep striking military bases in the Middle East that are used by the United States, causing billions of dollars in damage, as well as commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Disruptions to shipping in the waterway, where one-fifth of the world’s oil passed before the war, have led to higher energy prices that hit voters’ pocketbooks.

He said the next steps on the war are up to Trump, including telling Iran: “Hey, we’re done, and we’re going to watch your nuclear material. You better not move it.”

Hegseth’s defense of the war comes after about 6 in 10 voters said the U.S. made the “wrong decision” in taking military action against Iran, according to The AP Voter Poll, a survey of more than 100,000 voters in the United States.

With anger in Congress rising, Hegseth has been on a social media blitz, posting a video last week acknowledging the threat of impeachment. He said it would be “all about the politics of personal destruction” and insisted that “won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that.”

Since then, scores of political appointees within the Pentagon have posted images of Hegseth emblazoned with the words, “Stand. Fight. Defend the Republic.” The White House also posted a video to social media that featured praise from Trump.

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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.