Amazon has launched a slate of initiatives to ensure learners are equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) training.

During a session at CES 2026 titled “Next-Gen Skills: Preparing Students for Tomorrow’s Tech,” Ben Moskovich, senior manager of public policy at Amazon Web Services, shared that Amazon aims to train 4 million learners in AI and ensure that 10,000 educators are equipped with curricula by 2028. This goal is supported by $30 million in AWS promotional credits and an additional $1.5 million in cash prizes awarded to students who are victorious in the Presidential AI Challenge, a press release confirms.

Presidential AI Challenge

The Presidential AI Challenge is geared toward K-12 youth, educators, mentors, and community teams who are leveraging AI for real-world solutions, according to the White House. People of all backgrounds are encouraged to engage with the program and showcase their work nationally.

The challenge stems from an executive order signed by President Trump titled “Advancing Artificial Intelligence (AI) Education for American Youth,” which seeks to ensure younger generations will become experts in AI technology and be equipped to lead its innovation for the future, according to the White House.

Partnership With PlayLab

Amazon is backing the challenge and has demonstrated its commitment through an $800,000 investment that will support 18 educational partners across seven U.S. regions aligned in promoting AI education, according to a press release. This includes the education nonprofit PlayLab, which provides AI tools and training.

“PlayLab essentially has an environment where they can help anyone build an app. And one of the things that we’re doing is we’re deploying to several school districts and schools, some in D.C., Virginia, some in Seattle, from all the regions,” Moskovich explained during the CES 2026 panel. “And we’re working with those schools and those school districts to give them the training that they need or the workshops that they need to participate in the Presidential AI Challenge. Hopefully, some students can win the prize.”

K-12 Youth

Moskovich added that one week earlier, Amazon and PlayLab partnered on a two-day event in Washington, D.C., that brought together 60 middle and high school students and taught them how to build AI-powered apps to identify holiday presents for their family. They also brainstormed other creative app ideas to submit for the Presidential AI Challenge.

“What was really interesting to see there is that some of the students in the room had very limited, even no exposure to AI in developing apps prior to this workshop,” he explained. “And by the end of the two-day workshop, they had built one and were well on their way to building a second, if not already completed a second. So it’s those kinds of hands-on experiential opportunities that really benefit students and teachers. And it was really exciting to see.”

Amazon has reached nearly half a million students with AI education with its current partners (at the time of this writing), according to a press release.