A charismatic L.A. educator, a connected consultant and the FBI probe of a failed AI company

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Alberto Carvalho and Debra Kerr’s roots date back to their days together in the Florida education community.Carvalho was the charismatic leader of Miami-Dade County schools, and Kerr was a well-known figure in the private sector, working for firms doing business with school systems.Carvalho gave the keynote speech at a summit for superintendents sponsored by Age of Learning, where Kerr worked at the time as the head of sales.Over the years, Kerr shared Carvalho’s Facebook posts to her own page, congratulating him on winning an award and often using the hashtag “#leadershipmatters.” Three years ago, Kerr posed for a smiling photo beside Carvalho, who had become the superintendent in Los Angeles, during what she described as his “brilliant” opening of schools address.

In 2023, Carvalho and Kerr became linked through another project.By now, Carvalho was head of the Los Angeles Unified School District and Kerr was working with AllHere, a Boston-based startup that promised a revolutionary tool in the form of a chatbot that would provide tailored academic guidance and other help to students and families — putting the district at the leading edge of artificial intelligence in the field of education.But the multimillion-dollar project failed within months of its partial launch.

Then, the company went bankrupt and its chief executive was accused by federal prosecutors of fraud.This week, FBI agents searched the homes of Carvalho and Kerr as part of an investigation that sources confirmed is connected to AllHere.

The LAUSD headquarters also was searched.LAUSD placed Carvalho on indefinite administrative leave Friday, clouding his future helming the nation’s second-largest school district.Authorities have not provided any details about the scope of the investigation or named any targets.Carvalho and Kerr could not be reached for comment.

But a review of court records an...