The AI Young Guru competition is held nationwide from January to April 2026, featuring three rounds conducted both online and offline.
On January 8, 2026, FPT University officially held the launch ceremony of the AI Young Guru competition—an artificial intelligence application playground designed for high school and vocational secondary students across the country.
The event was attended by Mr. Pham Ngoc Thuong – Deputy Minister of Education and Training; Mr. Bui Hoang Phuong – Deputy Minister of Science and Technology; along with leaders of FPT University.
AI Young Guru is a technology competition aimed at encouraging and guiding students to apply artificial intelligence in an effective and responsible manner. Through the competition, students are trained in innovative thinking and enhance their capability to use AI to solve problems in learning, work, and daily life.
The competition is organized by FPT University with the companionship of the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention (Ministry of Public Security), along with member units of FPT Corporation.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Le Truong Tung, Chairman of the Board of Management of FPT University, emphasized that artificial intelligence is having a profound impact on daily life and the labor market. According to him, education should not “ban AI,” but rather guide students to use AI in a proper, effective, responsible, and ethical manner.
The AI Young Guru competition will be organized in three rounds, combining online and offline formats, and will run from January to April 2026.
In the Awareness and Ideation Round, contestants register online and complete at least three free AI courses developed by FPT University, before proposing an AI application solution to address a problem in learning or daily life. From this round, 150 outstanding teams will be selected to advance to the next stage.
The Arena Round will be held onsite at five campuses of FPT University nationwide, where teams will use AI to solve real-world challenges within three hours. The top 30 teams will proceed to the final round.
In the Live Challenge Round, teams will take part in a 24-hour hackathon to refine their solutions. Subsequently, the eight best teams will compete through debates, presentations, and product demonstrations at Studio S14 of Vietnam Television (VTV) as part of the award ceremony.
The competition features a total prize value of up to VND 5 billion. The First Prize is valued at VND 100 million, accompanied by an experiential trip to the United States and a 100% scholarship to FPT University. In addition, there is one Second Prize worth VND 50 million, two Third Prizes worth VND 30 million each, along with dozens of other awards.