The team WuDButterflies from Ngô Quyền High School won first prize in Category B for high school students at the 2025 HCM City Artificial Intelligence Challenge in HCM City on November 27. — Photo courtesy of the organisers

HCM CITY — The 2025 HCM City Artificial Intelligence Challenge (AI Challenge 2025) honoured 41 outstanding teams for their innovative AI solutions supporting smart city development.

The city’s Department of Science and Technology on Thursday (November 27) held the award ceremony at the HCM City Innovation Startup Hub.

The 2025 edition focused on the theme “Virtual assistants for large-scale multimedia data retrieval”, drawing 80 finalist teams, including 56 university youth teams (Category A) and 24 high-school teams (Category B).

A total of 29 teams from Category A and 12 teams from Category B received prizes.

Each category included one first prize, one second prize, one third prize, a number of consolation prizes and "potential" awards.

In Category A for university and youth teams, the team OpenCubee_1 from the University of Information Technology under the Việt Nam National University - HCM City won first prize.

In Category B for high school students, the team WuDButterflies from Ngô Quyền High School claimed first prize for their outstanding performance.

Organisers said the 2025 edition demonstrated the rapid growth of the country’s AI community, especially among students.

Many of the submitted solutions showed high technological capability and strong potential for real-world application in information management, communication and urban services.

They also pledged to continue expanding the competition in coming years to match the city’s digital transformation agenda and support the development of high-quality human resources in AI.

The competition was organised under the city’s long-term programme to support IT–communications enterprises and innovation activities, in line with Decision No.1185 and Plan No.3567 of the municipal People’s Committee.

It was co-hosted by Việt Nam National University - HCM City, the city’s Department of Education and Training, the HCM City Youth Union, the HCM City Computer Association and the Youth Science and Technology Development Centre.

Launched in 2020, the annual AI Challenge has become one of the city’s key initiatives to encourage AI research and practical applications. — VNS