Sam Altman–backed college startup Campus hires former Meta AI VP, acquires Sizzle AI

Campus, the edtech startup backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is taking a major step forward in its mission to redefine community college. The company has hired Jerome Pesenti, Meta’s former Vice President of AI, as its new head of technology and acquired his AI learning platform, Sizzle AI, for an undisclosed amount, according to CNBC.

The deal marks a major leap in the company’s evolution. Founded to make high-quality education affordable and accessible, Campus now plans to integrate Sizzle AI’s adaptive learning technology — already used by 1.7 million people — directly into its digital classroom. Founder and Chancellor Tade Oyerinde said the move accelerates Campus’ roadmap “by two to three years” and deepens its ability to personalize learning at scale. “This is a game changer,” he told CNBC.

“Acquiring Sizzle accelerates our engineering roadmap by 2-3 years – they’ve built the best AI team in education and their infrastructure is so far ahead of anyone else – it’s super exciting,” Oyerinde said in a news release. “Campus students already learn from the best professors from the top schools in the country – now after class ends they’ll also have access to a learning platform that actually understands what they know and adapts to help them achieve mastery faster than anything on the market today.”

Campus.Edu: A College Built for the Modern Era

Campus was founded to fix what traditional community colleges have struggled with for decades: affordability, completion rates, and flexibility. It offers accredited associate degrees taught live by adjunct professors from elite universities, including Stanford, Princeton, and NYU. Students pay $7,320 per academic year — a figure that can be fully covered by Pell Grants — and receive a laptop, mobile Wi-Fi pack, tutoring access, and a personal success coach. Professors can earn more than $8,000 per course, creating a system that benefits both educators and students.

When TechStartups.com first covered Campus in 2023, the company had just raised $29 million to expand its hybrid programs and bring on more professors. At the time, enrollment hovered around 850 students. Two years later, that number has climbed past 3,000, a sign that its model of live instruction, flexible scheduling, and student support is resonating.

The AI Leap

Bringing in Pesenti and Sizzle AI signals that Campus is ready to go beyond video lectures and static coursework. Sizzle AI’s technology can generate personalized educational content, offering each student a tailored path through lessons based on their strengths and weaknesses. For Oyerinde, this integration represents the future of education — where human instruction meets intelligent assistance.

By combining its growing academic network with Pesenti’s experience at Meta and IBM Watson, Campus aims to build a next-generation learning system that feels less like online coursework and more like an adaptive mentor. The technology will help automate grading, deliver customized exercises, and adjust difficulty levels in real-time, reducing friction in how students learn and how professors teach.

Strong Backing and Big Ambitions

Campus has raised more than $100 million from high-profile investors, including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, General Catalyst, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, and Figma CEO Dylan Field. Its mission remains the same: to provide an affordable, world-class college experience without forcing students into long-term debt.

Oyerinde, who previously founded Campuswire — a learning platform used by students and professors from over 300 universities — continues to push education beyond outdated systems. He bets that by fusing accredited college programs with real-time AI adaptation, Campus can bridge the gap between traditional academics and the new generation of online learners.

The addition of Pesenti and Sizzle AI puts that vision within reach. With Altman’s backing, Pesenti’s expertise, and a growing student base, Campus is quietly building a model that may set the standard for how future colleges operate — intelligent, affordable, and built around the student.