The Transatlantic AI Entrepreneurship Challenge: A Student Competition

École Polytechnique | Sciences Po | Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne | Columbia University

New York City & Paris,  2026 - 2027

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Concept

AI technology is opening a treasure trove of new opportunities that can benefit society in a wide range of areas: from medicine to transport, from law to engineering, from teaching and education to art and creativity. Many of these new ideas grow out of the minds of students who use their ingenuity, their talent, and their imagination to offer solutions to today’s world challenges.

In order to support their efforts, the Alliance Program, together with the Columbia University Data Science Institute (DSI), the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Hi! Paris (École Polytechnique and IPP), the Observatory on AI (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), and the Open Institute for Digital Transformation (Sciences Po) decided to launch a Transatlantic AI Entrepreneurship Challenge. 

The competition will be open to students (graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral) and recent graduates from Columbia University, Sciences Po, Ecole Polytechnique and Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne. 

Teams of students and recent graduates from all four institutions will be invited to submit entrepreneurship proposals that leverage AI in their conception, development, or execution. Cross-institutional teams will also be welcome to apply.

The competition will be in three stages: 

1. Written application. Each team will send a written application to the AI Entrepreneurship selection committee within their institution. The application will include the name of the project, the names and CVs of team members, a detailed project description, a list of expected outputs and outcomes, a list of partners, a timeline, a budget and an executive summary.
2. Interview. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to pitch their project to their institution’s AI Entrepreneurship selection committee.
3. Each of the four institutions will select one team to represent them at the DSI AI Summit (in Spring of 2027). Each team will pitch their project to an independent panel in front of an audience. The winning team will be awarded a cash prize of $30,000 (TBD). In addition, each of the four teams will be offered mentorship sessions with successful industry leaders and entrepreneurs who will offer them the chance to test their ideas, benefit from expert advice and strengthen their proof of concept.

Founding partners of the Transatlantic AI Entrepreneurship Challenge will together develop the detailed criteria for the competition and will disseminate the application form through their respective networks. They will also jointly approach potential partners, sponsors and funders for the project. 

 Regulations: 

1. The Transatlantic AI Entrepreneurship Challenge is open to teams of students or recent graduates (within 5 years of graduation) from the four following institutions: Columbia University, Sciences Po, Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne and Ecole Polytechnique
2. The Transatlantic AI Entrepreneurship Challenge welcomes applications for new, independent ventures in the seed or early start-up stages
3. Status of incorporation and funding already received must be clearly stated in the application
4. Teams must not have raised more than $150,000 (130,000 Euros) of diluted funding prior to March 1st 2026
5. The Transatlantic AI Entrepreneurship Challenge is intended for ventures founded, managed and owned by eligible founders (students or recent graduates from one of the four participating institutions within 5 years of degree).
6. At least one founder must be a student or recent graduate from one of the four participating institutions. Names and roles of co-founders who are not students or graduates from the four institutions must be clearly stated in the application
7. All AI Entrepreneurship Challenge finalists are expected to attend the DSI AI Summit to present their project
8. Winners must agree to release rights to use their images and brief descriptions of their projects for promotional purposes
9. Eligibility is contingent on compliance with the rules listed above. Non-compliant teams can be disqualified at any stage, during the competition and prior to receiving funds at the administrators’ discretion