Apple and Michigan State University hold the inaugural Spring Forum for the Apple Manufacturing Academy in East Lansing, Michigan, bringing hundreds of U.S. manufacturers to campus and nearby sites to showcase how participating businesses apply AI and smart-manufacturing methods learned through the program. The event is described as the academy’s largest to date and includes offsite tours, with attendees visiting companies and research facilities such as Block Imaging, a Michigan firm that services and refurbishes medical imaging equipment, as well as Michigan State University locations including the MSU Facility for Rare Isotope Beams and Peckham. On campus, the forum features talks from speakers including McKinsey, Magna, LightGuide, and Medtronic, addressing topics such as physical AI in manufacturing and challenges involved in scaling AI solutions. The program also includes a poster session with MSU students and representatives from small- and medium-sized businesses. Apple vice president of Product Operations Priya Balasubramaniam and MSU president Kevin M. Guskiewicz participate in a fireside chat on AI’s impact on manufacturing and the skills needed for an AI-enabled economy. The academy, launched last year, is presented as a free program pairing Apple engineers and MSU experts with U.S. companies to help implement AI techniques; it has supported more than 150 companies and recently expanded with virtual programming.