Melania Trump invites K-12 students to participate in nationwide AI challenge contest

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump on Tuesday invited students in grades K-12 to participate in a government-sponsored nationwide contest that is designed to encourage them to work together to use artificial intelligence tools to solve community issues.

“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.”

Every student from kindergarten through 12th grade is invited to “unleash their imagination and showcase the spirit of American innovation," Trump said.

Students who sign up will complete a project using an artificial intelligence method or tool to address a community challenge.

Michael Kratsios, director of the White House science and technology office, said the possibilities for the projects are “endless” but the aim of the challenge is to get students to work together since they will use artificial intelligence in adulthood.

“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.”

Registration opens Tuesday on the website. An adult mentor or teacher must sponsor a team. Submissions are due by the end of December. Regional competitions will be held in the spring, followed by a White House event with the national winners, Kratsios said.

The contest was called for in an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on advancing artificial intelligence education for American youth.

The first lady announced in May that audio version of her 2024 memoir, “Melania,” was “narrated entirely using artificial intelligence — in my own voice.”

She also highlighted a negative side to AI when she lobbied Congress to pass legislation imposing penalties for online sexual exploitation using imagery that is real or an AI-generated deepfake. President Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law in May and had the first lady sign it, too.