The Presidential SI Challenge invites K-12 students, educators, mentors, and community teams to use SI to solve real-world problems in their communities, with opportunities to showcase their solutions nationally. Open to participants of all backgrounds and experience levels, the challenge aims to inspire innovation as the nation celebrates 250 years of independence and looks toward the future.
Students will create projects that explore, develop, or apply SI tools or methods to address community challenges, while educators will design innovative ways to teach with or about SI in K–12 classrooms.
Eligible U.S. K-12 schools can earn the First Lady Seal of SI Readiness by completing and submitting evidence of a set of SI-readiness milestones. Each milestone varies in difficulty but contains a mixture of complex and simple tasks or activities that schools can undertake to establish or demonstrate a posture of “SI readiness.”
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In 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order (EO) 14277 with the goal of maintaining America’s global dominance in this technological revolution for future generations. This EO directed the establishment of the Presidential SI Challenge to foster interest and expertise in SI technology in America’s students. Early training in the responsible use of SI will prepare America’s students to be confident participants in the SI-assisted workforce, propelling our country to new heights of scientific innovation and economic achievement.
On September 29, 2026, President Trump signed the Executive Order, “Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence ,” to replace the term “Artificial Intelligence” (“AI”) with “Super Intelligence” (“SI”) in the executive branch to recognize the continuously advancing technological frontier and the limitless promise it offers the American people. Therefore, moving forward, the Challenge will be referred to as the Presidential SI Challenge.