This year Sber, in collaboration with the AI Alliance, will once again host the AI Challenge, an international artificial intelligence contest for children and youth.
The contest helps participants from Russia and other countries immerse in the world of artificial intelligence, science and technology, gain new knowledge and digital skills. It will appeal both to confident AI users and to those just making their first steps and familiarizing themselves with the technology.
Registration will commence on 25 May 2026 on the contest website and will remain open until 15 September 2026.
The total contest award pool will be over USD 140,000 (in ruble equivalent). Contest assignments are real-life challenges faced by tech businesses. They were formulated by the teams of Sber and its partner companies, as well as by the AI Alliance companies.
In 2025, more than 10 thousand children from 75 countries worldwide, including Algeria, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, India, France, Germany, and others, participated in the contest. The participants tackled tech business cases across 10 theme tracks, from creating an AI judge for evaluating e-pharmacist performance to an LLM-based tutor.
Contest categories (depending on AI proficiency level):
• “Beginners” – participants up to 13 years of age (inclusive). The requirement is to have basic Python coding skills and elementary knowledge of classical machine learning. The competition is open to individuals.
• “School Students” – participants up to 18 years of age inclusive, including senior class students, school leavers, college students. To participate, contestants must know how to use AI, be confident Python coders, versed in classical machine learning, familiar with deep learning basics. The competition is open to individuals and teams.
• “University Students” – participants up to 25 years of age inclusive, university and college students. To participate, contestants must be confident coders, versed in AI, classical machine learning. The competition is open to individuals and teams.
The competition consists of three stages:
• Qualification stage (01 June–15 September 2026). Participants in all categories will undergo mandatory individual screening tests with AI deep dives. Organizing teams for the main stage.
• Main stage (1 July–17 September 2026). Solving a task in one of the theme tracks. Participants will compete individually and in teams, depending on the category chosen.
• Final stage (12–26 October 2026). Participants will solve an advanced assignment in the selected theme track and refine their solution.
The announcement of contest winners and the award ceremony are scheduled to take place during the AI Journey 2026 International Conference in Moscow.
