First Lady Melania Trump announced a nationwide AI challenge for K-12 students, inviting them to participate in an event to “discover, develop, and expand AI’s potential.”
“As someone who created an AI-powered audiobook and championed online safety through the ‘Take It Down Act,’ I’ve seen firsthand the promise of this powerful technology,” Trump said in a video statement. “Now, I pass the torch of innovation to you.”
“Just as America once led the world into the skies, we are poised to lead again, this time in the age of AI,” she continued.
The Presidential AI Challenge, open to kindergartners through 12th graders, is intended to “unleash their imagination and showcase the spirit of American innovation,” the first lady said.
According to the initiative’s website, the Presidential AI Challenge celebrates 250 years of independence.
“Early training in the responsible use of AI tools will demystify this technology and prepare America’s students to be confident participants in the AI-assisted workforce, propelling our Nation to new heights of scientific innovation and economic achievement,” the site explains, directing participants in the challenge to “complete a project that involves the study, development, or use of an AI method or tool to address community challenges, while educators will focus on creative approaches to teaching or using AI technologies in K-12 learning.”
The White House released its “AI Action Plan” in July, detailing how it may win the race for artificial intelligence. Policies listed in the plan include exporting American AI around the world, developing data centers, supporting innovation by removing barriers, and preserving free speech in AI models.
The report explains that an American victory in the AI race will unleash a new “information revolution” and “enable altogether new intellectual achievements: unraveling ancient scrolls once thought unreadable, making breakthroughs in scientific and mathematical theory, and creating new kinds of digital and physical art—a renaissance.”
