Georgia will send an eight-student team to the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) 2026, joining competitors from 103 countries in Astana, Kazakhstan, from August 2 to 8, according to Georgia Today.
The delegation — Mate Rekhviashvili, Nikoloz Kipshidze, Nikoloz Gegenava, Giorgi Maisuradze, Luka Berikelashvili, Antoni Ingorokva, Nikoloz Kiladze and Giorgi Tskitishvili — was selected and trained by the Georgian Artificial Intelligence Association (GAIA), a nonprofit that supports the country’s AI sector. Most of the students attend Tbilisi’s V. Komarov Public School of Physics and Mathematics No. 199.
Eight months of preparation
Ahead of the competition, the students completed GAIA’s Olympiad AI Course, an eight-month program covering machine learning, data science and applied AI, the organization said. The team is led by Shota Elkanishvili, with Nika Mikaberidze and Luka Darsalia serving as co-leaders.
TBC Bank is financing the team’s trip as part of a wider push to fund science and technology education in Georgia. The bank and GAIA also worked with Business and Technology University’s Tech Olympiads Hub to run the national selection process that produced the roster, and the finalists were recognized at an award ceremony at TBC Concept in Tbilisi in June.
“The AI Olympiad is one of the most important initiatives for developing the next generation of AI professionals in Georgia,” GAIA director Gigi Giorgadze said at the ceremony, according to Georgia Today.
Now in its third edition, IOAI launched in 2024 to give secondary-school students worldwide a venue to test AI and machine-learning skills. For GAIA, whose mission includes building up Georgia’s AI workforce, fielding a competitive national team is part of a broader effort to grow local technical talent.