**Amazon Nova AI Challenge: Trusted Software Agents** We are excited to announce that applications are open for Year 2 of the Amazon Nova AI Challenge and encourage you to apply and join the Nova AI Challenge community! Amazon will select up to 10 teams for the competition starting December 2025, which will run until October 2026. Each of the 10 selected teams will receive $250,000 in sponsorship along with monthly AWS credits, and winning teams have a chance to win an additional $700,000 in cash prizes. The Amazon Nova AI challenge is an international competition sponsored by Amazon where university teams from around the world compete in order to advance the state of the art in key challenges in artificial intelligence. Building on the success of Year 1 (Amazon Nova AI Challenge: Trusted AI), Year 2 will also be at the intersection of LLM coding agents and responsible and trustworthy AI. Teams of students will compete as either model developer teams or red teams to enhance the AI user experience, prevent misuse, and enable users to build more secure applications. We will maintain the same adversarial challenge format from Year 1 with 5 selected model developer teams and 5 selected red teams squaring off across a series of interactive tournaments. For more details on Year 1, you can find the challenge proceedings here: https://www.amazon.science/nova-ai-challenge/proceedings. Details on the teams who competed in Year 1 can be found here: https://www.amazon.science/nova-ai-challenge/teams/. AI in software development has evolved rapidly from simple code and function generation to systems that can plan, build, and test changes across entire applications. But as these AI agents handle increasingly complex tasks, we need to ensure they're not just capable but also trustworthy, secure, and reliable. In Year 2, model developer teams will take on the challenge of building agentic systems (coding assistants) capable of collaborating with a user across multi-turn dialog to complete complex tasks such as adding new features and fixes to full stack web applications. Red teams will be challenged to create systems that can automatically probe the applications built to identify vulnerabilities and potential exploits. Users will be simulated by user simulators that interact with the coding assistants in order to complete tasks provided in each tournament. Model developer teams will build malicious user simulators that complete tasks while potentially introducing vulnerabilities and red teams will build benign user simulators that attempt to complete tasks without introducing vulnerabilities. Critically, in year 2, model developer teams will be ranked based on improvements both in the overall coding utility of their systems as well as their security and resistance of applications to attacks from red team systems. In addition to their attack success rate in finding vulnerabilities and exploits, red teams will also be scored on utility of the applications their benign user simulators build with the coding assistants, and how human-like their benign simulator is. Both sides will have to ensure that the applications built are both maximally useful and safe — maximally helpful but remaining harmless.  **Why should I apply to the Amazon Nova AI Challenge?** There are multiple benefits of participating in the Amazon Nova AI Challenge: Trusted Software Agents, including: * **Dynamic feedback**: Teams will get the opportunity to test their systems against best-in-class competitors. Unlike static benchmarks, the challenge evaluations are dynamic, multi-turn, and evolve as both sets of teams refine their systems throughout the competition. * **AWS services**: Participating teams will receive training, support, and access to the full suite of AWS services, with substantial monthly AWS credits to support the cost of training and execution of their systems. * **Working with Amazon**: Through bootcamp, office hours, presentations, and summit which conclude the challenge, competing faculty and students have the opportunity to work closely with Amazon Scientist and engineers. * **Stipend**: Each team chosen for the Amazon Nova AI Challenge: Trusted Software Agents will receive sponsorship in the amount of $250K. * **Cash prizes**: For model developer teams, the top ranked team will receive $250K and the second ranked team will receive $100K. Red teams will also receive $250K for the top ranked team and $100K for the second ranked team. All cash prizes will be divided equally among the students on the team. **How do I apply to the Amazon Nova AI Challenge?** To apply to participate the Amazon Nova AI Challenge: Trusted Software Agents, you need to form a team and submit a short application proposal through the YouNoodle application portal. Teams consist of one or more faculty advisors, a student team lead, and a series of student participants. All students need to be currently enrolled in the university forming the team. We recognize the multidisciplinary nature of work at the nexus of LLMs and security and allow for up to three faculty advisors to participate in a team. The proposal consists of a brief (2 page) document describing the technical approach proposed by the team and a second document describing the team and the skills they bring to the task. Teams may apply either as model developer teams, red (attack) teams, or apply to both roles in which case it will be an Amazon’s discretion based on the review process which role the applying team is assigned to. Applications will be reviewed by a panel of Amazon scientists and security experts, in order to rank applications both for 1/ technical innovation and novelty of proposed approach and 2/ ability of the team execute on the proposal. Applications are due Dec 7, 2025. You can begin your application via [YouNoodle](https://apply.younoodle.com/round/amazon_trusted_ai_challenge_2 "Trusted Software Agents application"). For more information about the challenge, including rules and frequently asked questions, visit the [Amazon Nova AI Challenge](https://www.amazon.science/nova-ai-challenge "Amazon Nova AI Challenge") page. You can also email questions directly to amazon-challenge@amazon.com. **Key Dates:** * Applications open: Nov 10, 2025 * Applications due: **Dec 7, 2025** * Bootcamp for selected teams: Feb 2026 * Finals: Sept 2026 * Summit and Winners announcement: October 2026 We strongly encourage interested university teams to apply to join the Year 2 cohort and become part of the Amazon Nova AI challenge community! Best, Amazon Nova AI Challenge Team