White House presenter praises Presidential AI Challenge winners, cites broad participation

At a White House event, the presenter praised winners of the Presidential AI Challenge and urged students and educators to pursue bold, responsible innovation in artificial intelligence.

The presenter thanked "Secretaries Wright and Rollins" for supporting the program and called their participation a key to the contest’s ongoing success. "Today is about opening doors. When the doors open, passions flow, courage blossoms, and dreams are realized," the presenter said, urging finalists to use the moment to “build boldly and importantly to safeguard America's leading position in the world of technology.”

The presenter highlighted AI’s reach across sectors, saying the ideas shown at the contest will influence health care, nutrition and public safety. The remarks included a broad claim about information access: the presenter said AI "gives our communities access to the largest amount of recorded information in human history," and described the technology as transformative for society and public programs.

According to the presenter, "more than 20,000 students participated across all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico," and the remarks noted international participation "in 10 countries." The transcript also contains an unclear phrase rendered as "49 Department of War schools," which could not be verified from the record and is reported here as it appears in the transcript.

The presenter framed AI as a tool to improve publicly funded social programs and to enable more personalized education, saying it "allows us to deliver more personalized education and in return will unlock growth in America's economy." The remarks closed with a call to action: "Don't be reluctant to push that door open. Be bold with your dreams and brave with your actions."