About
The world championship of AI for secondary and high-school students
The International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) is both an individual and team-based competition where participants solve advanced, real-world problems using machine learning and AI.
The olympiad
First held in 2024, it is the newest of the major international science olympiads.
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2024
First edition
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130+
Countries and territories accredited in 2026
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466
Contestants at the 2026 final
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108
Countries and territories at the 2026 final
In 2026, more than 130 countries and territories have been accredited to compete, placing it as the second most popular competition alongside the long-established olympiads in maths, informatics and physics, as a global benchmark for pre-university talent.
Spain's first appearance.
The 3rd IOAI final was held in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 2 to 8 August 2026, bringing together 466 contestants from 108 countries and territories. In Spain's first appearance, the two teams, eight Spanish school students selected and trained by Harbour.Space, won two silver medals, one bronze and three honourable mentions.
The organiser in Spain
Harbour.Space is the sole IOAI-accredited organisation for Spain, responsible for selecting and training Spain's national team for the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence.
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2015
Founded
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Barcelona
Main campus
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3
Continents with a campus
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60+
Countries students come from
Harbour.Space is a private higher-education institution specialising in the integrated teaching of technology, entrepreneurship and design, founded in 2015, with its main campus in Barcelona. It operates an academic network of campuses across Europe, Asia and North America, with students from more than 60 countries.
We believe exceptional talent deserves exceptional support, and it should start at a young age and come at no cost to participants.
Harbour.Space has trained students over many years, from their school days until they reach the top of the world's IT olympiads: the IOI, the top pre-university olympiad in informatics; the ICPC World Finals, the top competitive programming championship; and the IOAI, the new world championship for AI.
Students trained from school to the top of the world's olympiads
- 2024 · IOI, International Olympiad in Informatics
Gold
Won by Alejandro Vivero Puga, the first competitor born and trained in Spain to win gold in the olympiad's history.
- 2026 · IOAI, Astana
Two silver, one bronze, three honourable mentions
Spain's first appearance, with both teams selected and trained by Harbour.Space.
- 2024 · ICPC World Finals, Luxor
Gold, 4th in the world, 1st in Europe
The first time a European institution reached the top four, ahead of MIT, Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge, and the first gold for Spain.
- 2022–2023 · SWERC
Gold, silver and bronze
Medals in the South Western Europe regional programming contest.
Beyond the Olympiad
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Cód¡Go!
Together with the Leagues of Code online platform, Cód¡Go! brought programming education into Spanish families and encouraged more girls into the field, in partnership with the Fundación Princesa de Girona and Banco Sabadell. The project was presented before Queen Letizia in Córdoba as part of the foundation's Tour del Talento in 2023.
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Summer camps
Camps in Barcelona, Menorca and Tenerife, where school children from across the world trained and prepared for olympiads in programming and AI.
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The Canary Islands AI Olympiad
A fully online competition for students aged 12 to 18, launched in 2026 with Universidad Europea de Canarias and the support of INtech-PCTT, Tenerife's Science and Technology Park, and FDCAN.
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Free training, wherever they are
Harbour.Space sponsors a world-renowned competitive programming coach to deliver free training for talented young people: online informatics camps, educational YouTube livestreams, courses and individual mentoring.