The 3rd International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) brings together more than 400 of the world's brightest young AI talents from 106 countries, creating opportunities not only for competition but also for future technological breakthroughs, Bagdat Mussin, Chairman of the Board of JSC Kazakhtelecom, said at the opening ceremony in Astana, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.
Addressing participants, Mussin said the Olympiad reflects Kazakhstan's commitment to developing a digital economy and nurturing future innovators.
"More than 400 of the world's brightest young AI talents from 106 countries have come together in Astana. But the true value of this Olympiad is not its size, it is you, the young talent gathered here today. You come from different cultures and backgrounds, yet you are united by one shared ambition to build technologies that improve people's lives."
He said many of the participants could become future entrepreneurs, researchers and technology leaders.
"I truly believe that among you are future entrepreneurs, researchers, technology leaders who will shape the future of Artificial Intelligence. And this is not just encouragement. Studies show International Olympiad medalists are 15,000 times more likely to become billionaires and 4,000 times more likely to build unicorn companies than the average person."
Mussin noted that companies such as OpenAI, Stripe, Cursor and Perplexity were founded by people with similar backgrounds, adding that the next major AI company could emerge from this year's competition.
"Perhaps the founder of the next great AI company is sitting in this room today. But the greatest achievement of this Olympiad may not be the medal you win. It may be the people you meet. Someone here may become your future co-founder or research partner. Today you compete with each other, tomorrow I hope you will build the future together."
He said the Kazakhstan Competitive Programming Federation (CPFED), together with government, academia and industry partners, is helping build an AI-ready Kazakhstan through education initiatives, including the President's AI Sana program.
Mussin also announced that Telegram founder Pavel Durov would support the winners despite being unable to attend the event.
"Although our friend Pavel Durov was unable to join us today, he wanted to support the participants of the IOAI 2026. As we speak, he's announcing a collection of 240 exclusive intelligence caps, a certain amount of NFTs for the winners of the Olympiad. Every medalist will receive one of these exclusive awards."
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev officially opened the 3rd International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence in Astana, calling for the safe and responsible development of artificial intelligence.