EGOI 2026 AI Challenge

Welcome to the official AI Challenge of the European Girls' Olympiad in Informatics 2026! The aim of this side challenge is to design and build AI models capable of solving the competitive programming problems that the participants are challenged with.

The track runs in parallel with EGOI 2026, celebrating innovation at the intersection of artificial intelligence and algorithmic problem-solving.

It is meant for AI companies, university research groups, and other interested parties that want to have their models compete under real contest conditions and demonstrate cutting-edge progress in autonomous reasoning and algorithmic skill. To this purpose, and to limit the influence of available computational power as much as possible, AI participants must operate under a strict power constraint.

1. Participation Models

There are two participation modes. In both cases, the AI model must be executable on hardware with a total power consumption of 1 kW or less.

Open Model Mode

Fee: 1,000€ for companies, 200€ for educational institutions or students.
Location: Remote participation
Format: Before the contest, teams must submit their model's source code and weights for verification. The submission must allow organizers to fully reproduce the results.

On-site Mode

Fee: 20,000€
Location: EGOI 2026 venue
Format: The model will be run onsite on a suitable device (brought by the team) in a proctored, offline environment.
The fee includes participation in the week's events, but no accomodation or meals.

2. Contest Principles

Standard Rules: All participants are bound by the standard EGOI 2026 competition rules, that will be available at https://egoi2026.it/competition/rules/.

AI contestants will have a separate (lower) submission limit that does not apply to regular contestants, meant to reflect that the average number of submissions a contestant does is much lower than their limit.
API & Environment Details: Details regarding how AI models will receive problem statements, submit solutions, and receive feedback will be announced soon.
Schedule: AI Track sessions will take place on the same days as the main EGOI contest, starting immediately after the on-site human round ends each day (Thursday 14th of May and Saturday 16th of May).
Autonomy: AI models must operate without human assistance, intervention, or interaction during the contest.
Hardware Constraint: The AI model must run on hardware consuming 1 kW or less
- On-site: Participant hardware must meet this requirement.
- Online: Submitted models must be reproducible on verification hardware meeting this requirement.
Universal Scoreboard: All participating teams will be included on the final scoreboard. Withdrawal from the scoreboard is not permitted.

3. Scoring and Results

Scoring: The scoring methodology will be detailed in the main EGOI 2026 competition rules.
Public Scoreboard: The official scoreboard will be published two weeks after the EGOI 2026 closing ceremony.
Results Embargo: Participants are strictly prohibited from publicly communicating or promoting their results until the official scoreboard is released. Afterward, any external communication regarding performance in the AI Track must be vetted and approved by the EGOI International Committee (IC) to ensure fairness and accuracy.
Awards: The top 3 teams will receive an award plaque.

4. Diversity and Inclusion

In the spirit of EGOI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse environment. We strongly encourage the participation of women and non-binary people and teams led by women or non-binary people, especially in the on-site track.

For inquiries, please contact info@egoi2026.it. We look forward to your participation!