Purdue University just made history by becoming the first major U.S. institution to mandate AI literacy as a graduation requirement. Here's what this signals: as blockchain and crypto ecosystems increasingly integrate machine learning for security, smart contract optimization, and risk management, foundational AI knowledge is becoming essential for the next generation of developers.

The move reflects a broader shift in how tech education adapts to industry demands. Whether you're building on-chain analytics, training models for market prediction, or working with autonomous systems on Web3 protocols, understanding AI fundamentals is no longer optional—it's becoming table stakes.

What does this mean for the crypto space? Universities are finally catching up to the reality that builders in decentralized systems need diverse technical skills. As institutions follow Purdue's lead, we'll likely see more rigorous training pipelines feeding talented engineers into the blockchain ecosystem.