Indian-American Students' Anti-Bullying Chatbot Wins Presidential AI Challenge; Melania Trump Honors Team At White House | Video
· Free Press Journal

Washington: A chatbot to prevent bullying, developed by a group largely comprising Indian-American students, won the first Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge National Champion Awards given away by First Lady Melania Trump at the White House on Tuesday.
First Lady Melania Trump Participates in the Presidential AI Challenge National Champions Awards https://t.co/5mYEJg8rKq
Visit freshyourfeel.org for more information.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 9, 2026
“Congratulations to our Presidential AI Challenge winners. It is wonderful to see this very impressive group of innovators at the White House. I’m proud that you represent the best of America. You are our future.”
— Office of the First Lady (@FirstLadyOffice) June 9, 2026
First Lady Melania Trump
Presidential AI Challenge National… pic.twitter.com/G2SS9SwSIl
A five-member community from Aldie, Virginia comprising Aarna Jaiswal, Eshani Khatri, Riva Madda, Samhitha Pinnamareddy and Sanuli Rathnayake won the Award in the Elementary School Track 2 category for developing the "Friendzone Chatbot Bullying Prevention App".
A group of students from NorthStar Middle School in Sammamish, Washington comprising Viha Iyer, Arya Pratap and Shrimayi Shetty won the Middle School Track 1 category for their project “Skillup”.
In the high school division, Khandakar Mahin of Upper Darby Senior High School in Pennsylvania captured the national title in Track 1 for his project, "Utilising Computer Vision for Hotel Room Identification in Criminal Investigations".
First Lady Melania Trump hosted and awarded the winners of the Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge National Champion Awards Ceremony in the East Room, honoring young American innovators.
— Neelotpal Srivastav (@NS_Neelotpal) June 9, 2026
Innovators by ethnicity:
White - 4
Indian - 9
Asian - 1
Others - 1 pic.twitter.com/cXJZ2edPwr
Mahin will graduate from high school this week and attend Harvard University in the autumn.
Among other winners were students from Alcoa Intermediate School from Tennessee who won the award for their project “Homework Helper”. The team comprised Ryker Cochran, Emma Connor, Aaron Gallagher and Ayden Taverna and won the prize in the Elementary Track 1 category.
In the Middle School Track 2 category, Shan Vance from Julia Landon College Preparatory School in Jacksonville, Florida, won “Using AI Models to Detect Urban Blight using Street-view Images”.
This morning, @FLOTUS @MELANIATRUMP awarded America’s six student National Champion Teams at the White House today during the first Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge National Champion Awards Ceremony.
— Office of the First Lady (@FirstLadyOffice) June 9, 2026
“Today is about opening doors. When new doors open, passions… pic.twitter.com/0qNbBhynFf
In the High School Track 2 category, Alexander Du from North Allegheny High School, Sewickley, Pennsylvania, won the award for his project “IRIS: A Low-Cost Spatiotemporal AI Framework for Visually Impaired Navigation in Complex Urban Environments”.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, the First Lady praised the students and described them as America's future innovators.
"It is wonderful to see this very impressive group of innovators at the White House. I'm proud that you represent the best of America. You are our future," she said.
Thank you @FLOTUS for leading the Presidential AI Challenge and inspiring so many students across the country to dream, build, and innovate with AI.
— Director Michael Kratsios (@mkratsios47) June 9, 2026
Was honored to announce the 2026 National Champions at the @WhiteHouse today. Their creativity and ambition are extraordinary. pic.twitter.com/L0MFsWK8xh
The Presidential AI Challenge attracted entries from all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Department of Defence schools overseas.
"The first Presidential AI Challenge was broadly welcomed across our nation. More than 20,000 students participated across all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 49 Department of War schools in 10 countries around the world," Melania Trump said.
The First Lady said the competition was designed to encourage innovation and help young people explore the possibilities of artificial intelligence.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)