Sal Khan, founder of the popular learning site Khan Academy, is publicly rethinking his big bet on AI in schools. Three years ago he launched Khanmigo, an AI-powered tutoring chatbot, and predicted it would spark a learning revolution. In a recent interview with Chalkbeat, Khan acknowledged that for many students the tool has been, in his words, 'a non-event.'
Khan still believes AI tutors hold enormous promise, but he says the rollout has been slower and messier than he expected. Many students do not naturally turn to a chatbot for help, and many teachers do not have time to learn a new tool on top of everything else they juggle. The most successful classrooms tend to be ones where a teacher actively builds AI use into lessons.
His honest reflection is unusual in the edtech world, where new products are usually pitched as game-changers. Coming from Khan — who helped popularize online learning — the cautious tone is likely to influence how schools, funders, and parents think about AI tutoring going forward.
The bigger lesson is that technology alone rarely changes education. Even powerful tools need supportive teachers, clear goals, and time for students to develop habits around them. That is true whether the tool is a calculator, a laptop, or an AI tutor.