Summary
- White House launched the Presidential AI Challenge for K-12 students.
- Challenge encourages AI-based solutions for community problems.
- Open to youth teams with adult mentors nationwide.
- Prizes include $10,000, certificates, and access to resources.
On Tuesday, Melania Trump encouraged K–12 children to take part in a countrywide competition sponsored by the government, which aims to inspire them to collaborate in order to apply artificial intelligence capabilities to address local problems.
“As someone who created an AI-powered audio book and championed online safety through the Take It Down Act, I’ve seen firsthand the promise of this powerful technology,”
the first lady says in a short video announcing the Presidential AI Challenge.
“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,”
she continued.
“This time, in the age of AI.”
According to Trump, all pupils from kindergarten through the twelfth grade are encouraged to "unleash their imagination and showcase the spirit of American innovation."
Participating students will finish a project that addresses a community challenge by utilizing an artificial intelligence technique or tool.
The director of the White House science and technology office, Michael Kratsios, stated that while the projects' potential is "endless," the challenge's goal is to encourage collaboration among kids because they will need artificial intelligence as adults.
“We want to have America’s youth plugged in and working on and using AI tools,”
he said Tuesday during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends.”
The website will open for registration on Tuesday. A team has to be sponsored by an adult mentor or educator. The deadline for submissions is the end of December. According to Kratsios, regional contests will take place in the spring, and the national champions will then attend a White House ceremony.
President Donald Trump's executive order on promoting artificial intelligence education for American kids asked for the competition.
Melania, the first lady's 2024 biography, was
"narrated entirely using artificial intelligence — in my own voice,"
she said in May.
When she pushed Congress to enact laws penalizing online sexual abuse using actual or AI-generated deepfakes, she also brought attention to a drawback of AI. The Take It Down Act was signed into law by President Trump in May, and the first lady also signed it.
How will student privacy and data be protected in submissions?
The challenge follows key student privacy laws such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which limits access to educational records and requires consent for sharing student data, and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which protects children under 13 by requiring parental consent for data collection.
Only essential information needed for the contest is collected, avoiding unnecessary or excessive data gathering to reduce exposure risks.
Submitted data and personal information are protected using strong encryption both during transmission and storage, along with role-based access control to ensure only authorized personnel handle the data.