Bangladesh team competes in International AI Olympiad in Kazakhstan

Bangladesh's four-member artificial intelligence team is competing in the third International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI 2026) in Astana, Kazakhstan, against nearly 400 students from more than 100 countries.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev inaugurated the event, which is being held from 2–8 August, according to a press release.

Professor Dr BM Mainul Hossain of the Institute of Information Technology (IIT) at the University of Dhaka is leading the Bangladesh team.

The competitors are Labib Shahriar, a Class 10 student at Homna Adarsha High School in Cumilla; Md Saiduzzaman Araf, an eleventh-grade student at Moulvibazar Government College; Anannya Zarif Akand, an eleventh-grade student at Munno International School and College; and Mobtasim Chowdhury Priom, an eleventh-grade student at Notre Dame College.

The first round of the competition was held on 4 August, requiring participants to solve complex problems involving machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing.

An "AI Model Track" has been introduced this year. Under the track, AI laboratories and institutions worldwide will use their own models to solve the same competitive problems without human intervention.

After arriving in Astana on 3 August, the Bangladesh team received an official welcome from the organising committee and completed its registration.

The team leader was also presented with the three gold medals Bangladesh won at the Asia-Pacific AI Olympiad, held on 13 June.

During IOAI 2026, the students will represent Bangladesh in the main competition, take part in the opening ceremony, visit tourist attractions, and participate in cultural exchange programmes.

This is the third edition of the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence. Following its inaugural edition in Bulgaria in 2024 and the second edition in China in 2025, the competition is being held in Central Asia for the first time.

Professor Dr BM Mainul Hossain, team leader, said, "We are delighted to participate in the world's largest international artificial intelligence olympiad. Competing against the best students from more than 100 countries will be a unique experience for our participants. We are hopeful that Bangladesh will achieve a strong result in this edition."

The Bangladesh Open Source Network (BdOSN) expressed hope that the team's participation and success would inspire further progress in information technology education across the country.

The Bangladesh AI team is participating in the competition after receiving an official invitation from the Competitive Programming Federation of Kazakhstan (CPFED) and the IOAI 2026 organising committee.

The team was formed with students selected from across the country through the Bangladesh Artificial Intelligence Olympiad, organised by BdOSN.

Activities for the national AI Olympiad began in April, followed by regional rounds in May and the national round at the Bangladesh University of Business and Technology (BUBT) on 16 May.

The final team was selected after an assessment at the national selection camp, held from 20–23 May. The students subsequently received around two months of online mentoring and training under BdOSN's supervision.

BdOSN organised the Bangladesh Artificial Intelligence Olympiad. BUBT served as platinum sponsor and host of the national round, while Reve Chat joined as powered-by partner.

Brain Station 23 was the gold sponsor, MillionX Bangladesh and Creative IT were silver sponsors, and Bitna was the bronze sponsor. The University of Dhaka's Institute of Information Technology supported the event as knowledge partner.

Kishor Alo and BigganChinta were magazine partners, while Deepto TV was the television partner. The Society for the Popularisation of Science, Bangladesh, Rokomari.com and Jadoo PC also joined as partners.