First Lady Melania Trump announced awards for students who excelled in the first Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge. The challenge, launched in August 2025, invited students to participate in an event to “discover, develop, and expand AI’s potential.”
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 at the time.
“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 challenge’s website explained, 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.”
More than 20,000 students from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as Puerto Rico and 49 Department of Defense Education Activity schools across 10 countries, participated in the challenge. Six student National Champion teams were recognized at the event.
“The young finalists here today come from different backgrounds, schools, and communities. Yet you all share something important,” the first lady said in her remarks during the event. “You saw a better way, and you chose to act. That spirit—the courage to ask questions, seek innovative solutions, and serve others—is what will continue moving our country forward.”
