First lady Melania Trump on Tuesday announced the youth winners of the 2026 Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge.
“It is wonderful to see this very impressive group of innovators at the White House,” the first lady said. “I’m proud that you represent the best of America. You are our future.”
She highlighted how AI “inspires” and said this technology supports sectors across the country. She said the students saw the potential of AI and created ideas that will “shape America’s future in many areas.”
The challenge, the White House said, is seeking to inspire young Americans and educators across the country to “create AI-based innovating solutions to community challenges.” It’s part of the Trump administration’s push to highlight successes in innovation ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday.
Two groups of elementary school students, one in Alcoa, Tennessee, and another in Aldie, Virginia, were recognized as the winners.
The students at Alcoa Intermediate School created an AI “Homework Helper,” and in Aldie, a community group created a “Friendzone Chatbot Bullying Prevention App.”
In the middle school category, a group from NorthStar Middle School in Sammamish, Washington, created SkillUP, and at the Julia Landon College Prepartory School in Jacksonville, Florida, students used AI models to “Detect Urban Blight using Street-view Images.”
In Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, a high school student at the Upper Darby Senior High School created an AI model that uses computer vision for hotel room identification in criminal investigations. In Sewickley, Pennsylvania, another student was honored for creating a “Low-Cost Spatiotemporal” AI framework for those who are visually impaired to navigate urban communities.
The White House said more than 20,000 students particpated in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and in 49 Department of War schools in 10 countries globally. “And we are just at the beginning,” the first lady said.
“The young finalists here today come from different backgrounds, schools and communities. Yet you all share something important,” she said. “You saw a better way, and you chose to act. That spirit — the courage to ask questions, seek innovating solutions, and serve others — is what will continue moving our country forward.”
The Trump administration has embraced AI in various ways across the administration. The competition was more than a year long and came after President Trump signed an April 2025 executive order, “Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth.”
At the time, the president said it was a “big deal because AI is where it seems to be at.”
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios said at the event that AI is “a magical technology, but it can needs to be demystified.”
“This challenge has empowered every kind of young American, even the ones focused, who aren’t focused on science and mathematics, to design incredible technological projects through the creative use of artificial intelligence,” he said.
