At the first International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI), held in Burgas from August 9 to 15, Bulgarian students achieved notable success. The competition saw participation from about 200 students across nearly 40 countries, each working on innovative AI projects for six days.

Supported primarily by Vivacom, which ensured high-speed internet connectivity and provided financial backing of 10,000 leva, the event benefited from the largest 5G network in Bulgaria. Vivacom also awarded special prizes, including the latest Nothing Ear 1 wireless headphones, to top performers.

Bulgarian teams earned two bronze medals in the team category and a gold medal in the practical segment of the competition. The Olympiad’s initial phase focused on machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision, with teams developing new AI models and solving complex problems. Teams from Singapore, Poland, and Letovo won gold medals in this segment.

In the practical round, participants used AI tools to create visuals and a video remix of Maria Ilieva’s hit single "Love". The gold medals in this phase went to teams from Bulgaria, Poland, Australia, and the USA.

The LERAI Foundation, founded by five Bulgarians—Lora Dineva, Elena Marinova, Rositsa Dekova, Alexander Velinov, and Iva Gumnishka—will host the next International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence in Beijing, China. This continues Bulgaria’s tradition of hosting international scientific competitions, which began with the International Olympiad in Informatics in 1989, followed by the International Olympiad in Linguistics in 2003, and the European Youth Informatics Olympiad in 2017.