Real-world case studies, fierce competition, and young AI talent: The AI Challenge, an AI competition for children and youth, has kicked off

Schoolchildren and college students with varying levels of AI expertise are eligible to participate—three categories, three stages, and “an accessible way to enter the world of real-world artificial intelligence”

To mark Children’s Day, the annual international AI Challenge competition for children and youth has kicked off. It will help young people from Russia and other countries immerse themselves in the world of artificial intelligence and hone their skills by tackling real-world challenges in the tech industry. The competition will be of interest to both beginners and those who are already well-versed in AI. Registration is open until September 15, 2026.

The competition challenges were prepared by Sber, partner companies, and members of the Artificial Intelligence Alliance. Participants will be able to test their skills in developing autonomous, universal AI agents for information security; automatic image restoration systems; solutions for processing citizen inquiries; and detecting hidden AI manipulation of images, among many other relevant challenges.

Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Sberbank:

“The AI Challenge brings together talented and driven young people who will create new technologies and products and transform entire industries. Every year, we make the competition’s challenges more complex—and every time, the participants rise to the occasion. By working on real-world business cases, high school and college students grow very quickly as professionals, gaining the knowledge and skills needed to work at leading technology companies. The AI Challenge is a springboard to the future—both for the young people themselves and for Russia as a whole.”

Participants will compete in three categories.

• “Beginners”—an individual track for children up to and including age 13. Participants must know the basics of Python programming and classical machine learning.
• “High School Students”—an individual and team track for participants up to and including age 18: current high school students, high school graduates, and college students. Participants must be able to use AI, program confidently, and have a solid understanding of machine learning and the fundamentals of deep learning.
• “College Students”—an individual and team track for university and college students up to age 25. Participants must have a strong understanding of AI and classical machine learning.

The competition will take place in three stages:

• Qualifying Round (June 1–September 15)—individual challenges and team formation for the main stage;
• Main Stage (July 1–September 17)—solving problems individually or in teams;
• Finals (October 12–October 26)—more complex tasks and refining solutions into product prototypes.

The top performers will be honored at the Artificial Intelligence Journey international conference in Moscow. The prize fund totals 15.6 million rubles. Winners of the AI Challenge will have the opportunity to participate in a training program to prepare the Russian school team for the International Olympiad on Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) in 2027.

Many students have been participating in the competition for several years and will be competing again this year. The winners and finalists of the 2025 AI Challenge shared their impressions.

Diana Komarova, “School Students” category:

“Winning the AI Challenge was a life-changing event. The competition is unique. Everything about it is special: the challenges, the environment, the atmosphere. You don’t feel nervous; instead, you feel calm and supported by the most sincere people, and you see real opportunities and prospects for the future. I always looked forward to moving on to the next stage so I could refine my solution as the challenge became more complex. I remember leaving for the competition during the final stage, taking my laptop with me and working on the task whenever I had a free moment. Participating in the competition, I realized that you always have to see it through to the end, even if nothing works out for a long time. You have to try to squeeze out the maximum score with your last ounce of strength and keep working even in the face of fierce competition.”

Nika Smirnova, “Schoolchildren”:

“The AI Challenge features very interesting and unusual problems. You’re given plenty of time to solve them, so you can try out different creative approaches. The problems get more difficult with each stage, so you have to keep improving your skills.”

Georgy Bogdanov, “Beginners”:

“The AI Challenge brings together two things that really interest me: math and programming. I wanted to do more than just solve a problem; I wanted to test my thinking and see if I could find unconventional solutions. You have enough attempts and time to arrive at an excellent result through trial and error. You’re not just participating—you’re growing. The competition taught me how to choose a strong idea and see it through to the end. I realized that in competitions like this, the winner is someone who knows how to manage their time, quickly discard weak solutions, and focus on what matters most. Winning the AI Challenge served as my gateway to the world of serious international technology competitions and a clear path into the field of real artificial intelligence.”

Fyodor Stepin, “Beginners”:

“Participating in the competition provides a unique experience for solving non-standard problems, an opportunity to test your skills, compete, and interact with other participants. Unlike other competitions, at the AI Challenge, participants solve real-world case studies from major companies. The challenges span dozens of industries: from metallurgy and agriculture to fintech and generative art. I didn’t have the skills to present my work from a technical perspective—only from the user’s point of view. At the competition, I learned how to do that.”

Ilya Paklin, “Beginners”:

“The competition helped me experience the true spirit of competition: when you want to give it your all and keep up with the others. It’s great that anyone who wants to can participate, not just those selected based on some complicated criteria.”

In 2025, 10,000 high school and college students from 75 countries around the world participated in the competition, including Algeria, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, India, France, Germany, and others. In August 2025 in Beijing, the Russian school AI team—prepared by a team from Central University and the AI Alliance based at SberUniversity—won six gold medals and took first place at the IOAI.