To identify student work written by artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, many California colleges and universities rely on Turnitin, a plagiarism detection service. But the company’s tools aren’t always accurate, and when it falsely flags work done by humans as AI-generated, students are caught in the crossfire.
As CalMatters’ Tara García Mathewson explains, in 2025 California State University paid $163,000 to use Turnitin’s tool to identify AI-generated writing. Several University of California campuses spend more than $100,000 per year on the detector, while nearly three-quarters of California community colleges now use it.
One of Turnitin’s biggest selling points is its robust repository of student writing, which it uses to train its detection tools. As of June 2025, the company reported having a database of 1.9 billion student papers. Turnitin licenses its technology to colleges under the requirement that the company gets to keep students’ writings in perpetuity.
Besides the privacy concerns that come with handing over students’ papers to a third party, tools marketed to identify AI-generated content also make mistakes. The Center for Democracy & Technology, a nonprofit focused on digital rights, found that one in five students either were wrongly accused of using generative AI to cheat or knew someone who had been.
That’s what happened to Nilka Desiree Abbas in 2023. While taking a political science course at San Bernardino Valley College, Abbas received a zero on an assignment with a message from her professor saying she had used ChatGPT.
- Abbas: “It took me so long to go back to school. To be falsely accused felt devastating.”
Though she ultimately passed the course, the incident rattled her: For her remaining classes, Abbas took photos as she worked on assignments for proof of her original work.
More on Turnitin: In reviewing purchasing records from 60 California institutions, Tara also found that Turnitin charged varying amounts for the same plagiarism-detection tools. In 2021, for example, UC Berkeley paid $2.11 per student for its Turnitin license, while UC Irvine’s Division of Continuing Education paid $6.50. Find out more about how much California colleges spend on Turnitin.
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Other Stories You Should Know
Budget negotiations continue
With less than a week before the fiscal year begins on July 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democratic-controlled Legislature are inching closer to a budget agreement that seeks to plug the state’s $12 billion budget hole, writes CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff.
Both parties reached a tentative deal Tuesday, though negotiations are ongoing as lawmakers iron out the final details of the $321 billion spending plan. Newsom, for example, is calling for a provision that would speed up housing development near public transit, but the proposal is facing pushback in the state Senate.
The draft deal rejects some of Newsom’s proposed cuts, including reinstating a Medi-Cal asset limit that would have disqualified thousands of existing enrollees who are elderly or disabled. But it does retain some of Newsom’s other plans, such as freezing Medi-Cal enrollment for adults who do not have legal status. Legislators also successfully added one-time funding for the anti-crime measure Proposition 36.
Lawmakers, unions fight over construction wages
Speaking of the budget, a provision buried in the budget agreement could signal that lawmakers are nearing a deal that would set a new minimum wage rate for housing construction workers, report CalMatters’ Ben Christopher.
If passed, the new rates would mark a turning point in a longstanding debate about “prevailing wages,” which has loomed over the legislative politics of California housing. These state-determined wages vary by occupation and location, and are generally comparable to union wages.
The proposal would carve out exceptions to California’s environmental laws to make it easier to construct certain housing projects, while putting forward a significantly lower, more developer-friendly alternative to the prevailing wage rate. Supporters of the deal say the new standards represent a wage increase since it applies to construction projects not currently covered by prevailing wages.
But the influential State Building and Construction Trades Council slammed the proposal, calling it “harmful and unprecedented.” It argues that the arrangement would “devastate construction workers” by undercutting pay standards.
And lastly: What SALT deal could mean for CA
Republicans in Congress are struggling to reach an agreement on whether to increase a controversial cap on state and local tax deductions. Find out how changes to this so-called SALT cap would have major implications for wealthy Californians from CalMatters’ Levi Sumagaysay.
California Voices
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: Legislative leaders say their latest budget agreement is a heroic response to financial woes caused by outside factors, but lawmakers have been overspending California’s revenues for years.
CalMatters contributor Jim Newton: As the federal government carries out immigration raids in the state, Los Angeles’ large, productive and now fearful community of undocumented immigrants has slipped into the shadows.
Other things worth your time:
Trump administration says CA must bar trans girls from girls sports // AP News
Democrats are taking aim at one of CA’s signature climate policies // Politico
Sacramento could ban owners from running Airbnbs in homes they don’t live in // The Sacramento Bee
The Golden Gate Bridge is dangerously woke, CEO warns // The San Francisco Standard
Stanford Medicine halts gender-affirming surgeries for youths // San Francisco Chronicle
Most nabbed in LA raids were men with no criminal conviction, picked up off the street // Los Angeles Times
Nearly one-third of National Guard drug enforcement team were pulled to go to LA // San Francisco Chronicle
LAPD allowed to use drones as ‘first responders’ under new program // Los Angeles Times
Santa Ana Unified suspends field trips for third week amid ICE raids // The Orange County Register