Inaugural Singapore National AI Olympiad

The inaugural National AI Olympiad (NOAI), co-organised by AI Singapore and NTU with support from MOE and MDDI, drew over 120 students from 20 schools. The competition tested AI knowledge and problem-solving under time pressure, covering topics like transformer architectures and attention mechanisms.

Students described their preparation: drawing inspiration from last year's AI conference, working through their applied AI and analytics diplomas, and drilling on core concepts. Several said hands-on technology exposure outside the classroom mattered most. After NOAI, selected participants enter rigorous selection and intensive training to represent Singapore at the International AI Olympiad in Beijing.

Caption language: en · Fetched: 2026-05-02

[Music] An OAI is Singapore's premier AI competition for students. Organized by AI Singapore in collaboration with MTU and supported by MOE and MDI. It empowers our students with a cuttingedge AI skills fostering critical thinking and leadership in an AIdriven world. We are excited to have over 120 participants from 20 different schools taking part. It's a great platform to test their AI knowledge and problem solving skills under time conditions. >> What actually inspired me or you could say a stepping stone would be last year when I participated in the AI conference where I got to see many projects that was done by students. >> To prepare for the competition, I read up about the various topics that could be tested. So these would include transformer architectures as well as the attention mechanisms.

So, I spent a lot more time understanding these concepts. >> I definitely don't expect the competition to be easy, but thanks to my diploma in applied AI and analytics, I do feel fairly confident that I can do well in the competition. >> I think uh hands-on technology exposure outside of the classroom has been invaluable. And for me personally, this is what I study, right? And it's really my passion and something I really love. And I believe that when you love what you do, I think the best work follows. After going through the competition, I realized it wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be. Although I lacked some technical knowledge on the specific libraries and how I could actually go about doing this, I still wanted to challenge myself and take on this competition.

And through the preparation, I actually learned a lot about myself as well as about AI, which makes me think this was a very meaningful experience. Such competitions should encourage Singaporeans to broaden their knowledge in AI and also hopefully nurture the next growing passionate students in this AI landscape. >> After NOAI, selected participants will undergo a rigorous selection process and intensive training. The top talents will represent Singapore at the International Olympia in AI which is held in Beijing this year, competing on the global stage and putting Singapore on the world map. [Music]