The Viterbi school of engineering at USC is offering a four-year program to prepare students for such fields as drug discovery, robotics and agriculture. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

USC and UCLA bet big on AI to meet soaring student, job market demands

USC and UCLA are joining the rush to embed artificial intelligence and new digital technologies into college coursework as the academic year begins, announcing new AI majors and initiatives, betting that degrees built partly or entirely around AI will launch careers and pay off after graduation.