'Indian National AI Olympiad 2026' registrations open to nurture school-level AI talent

New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) ACM India, the Indian arm of the Association for Computing Machinery, on Saturday announced the launch of the 'Indian National AI Olympiad 2026' -- a nationwide initiative to identify and nurture exceptional school-level talent in Artificial Intelligence.

Registration for the INAIO 2026 test for Indian students pursuing Classes IX to XII, to be conducted online on January 18, 2026, is open until December 31, 2025.

Test results will help candidates born after August 2, 2006, qualify for IOAI 2026 in Abu Dhabi from August 2–8, 2026, ACM India said in a statement.

The Indian National AI Olympiad, to be proctored live and administered by assessment technology platform HireMee, will serve as an accredited gateway to the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI).

IOAI will offer students global exposure, advanced innovation skills, and world‑class academic opportunities, it added.

Toppers of related Olympiads such as INMO (Indian National Mathematical Olympiad), INOI (Indian National Olympiad in Informatics), PLO (Panini Linguistics Olympiad), and Bebras will receive direct entry into Stage 2 of INAIO.

The multi‑stage structured evaluation model of INAIO is designed to strengthen conceptual understanding of machine learning and develop real‑world modelling abilities, with the Olympiad selecting students to represent India at IOAI.