Saudi Arabia ranked first globally in the WAICY 2025 competition with 26 awards
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has achieved a new historic milestone in its impressive record in the technology sector, by winning first place globally in the World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth (WAICY) 2025 edition. The Kingdom won (26) diverse awards, surpassing major technological powers, with the United States of America coming in second place, and Indonesia in third place, in a scene that reflects the rapid development of Saudi national talents.
Saudi dominance and a path of continuous superiority
This achievement was not a coincidence, but rather the culmination of a strategic journey of diligent work. For three consecutive years, the Kingdom has solidified its global leadership in this competition. The journey began with the Kingdom's official participation in the competition in 2022, and the pace of achievements accelerated in the 2023 edition with a record number of medals won amidst competition from 18,000 students from 40 countries. This excellence continued in 2024 with 22 medals, the highest tally among 129 countries, culminating in the peak in 2025, thus confirming the sustained development of Saudi human capital.
The historical context and significance of the WAICY competition
Launched in 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the campus of the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University, the WAICY competition is one of the most important international platforms redefining artificial intelligence education. The competition has witnessed tremendous growth in participation, jumping from 200 students from 5 countries in 2018 to over 132,000 students representing 103 countries in the 2025 edition. The Kingdom's first-place finish amidst this global momentum is a strong indicator of the quality of its educational and technological output.
The role of “SDAIA” and the strategic impact of the achievement
Behind this success lies the significant support of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), which prioritized nurturing these talents from an early stage. This achievement reflects the success of the Kingdom's strategies in building a knowledge-based economy and empowering youth with the tools of the future, in line with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. The impact extends beyond the awards themselves, encompassing the transformation of student projects into promising startups and the acceptance of many winners into prestigious international universities such as MIT, Stanford, and Harvard.
Competition paths and future prospects
The competition included four main tracks that demanded high levels of innovation skills: showcasing AI applications for solving real-world problems, AI-generated art, big language model applications, and AI-generated video. These results underscore the readiness of the emerging Saudi generation to actively contribute to shaping the future of technology, not only as consumers but also as developers and innovators of smart solutions that serve humanity.
