The growing economic value of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital skills has taken centre stage at the International Youth Festival 2026 in Yekaterinburg, as young people from around the world compete to demonstrate how technology can be turned into creative and commercially viable opportunities.
The festival, which runs from September 11 to 17, has brought together 10,000 young leaders from 191 countries, including 5,000 international participants, with technology, entrepreneurship, media and creative industries forming key areas of the programme.
One of the major highlights has been the launch of competitions designed to test two increasingly important skills in the digital economy: creating content with AI and identifying manipulated or false digital information.
About 200 participants took part in the First Neurocontent Cup and the Anti-Fake Championship, while more than 40,000 people submitted applications to participate in the two projects.
The competitions, held at the Yekaterinburg-EXPO venue, reflect the changing demands of the global digital economy, where the ability to use emerging technologies is increasingly being matched with the need to understand their risks.
Participants in the First Neurocontent Cup worked in teams to produce short videos using generative AI, while contestants in the Anti-Fake Championship examined news reports, photographs, videos and social media publications to determine whether they were genuine or manipulated.
The winning team in the Neurocontent Cup is also set to receive a 500,000-ruble contract to produce socially significant content for the ANO Development of Artificial Intelligence Technologies, giving the competition a direct link between digital skills development and economic opportunity.
Mikhail Gusev, Marketing Director of the Presidential Platform “Russia – Land of Opportunities”, said the competitions demonstrated that digital literacy now extends beyond simply knowing how to operate AI tools.
“Today, it is not enough to simply know how to use neural networks,” he said, stressing the importance of understanding what is created with the technology and why.
The competition assessed participants on creativity, image and sound quality, technical execution, effective use of AI tools, potential for online distribution and the overall quality of the finished product.
Alexey Goreslavsky, General Director of the Internet Development Institute, said the initiative had evolved from an experiment into a growing community of young digital creators.
He noted that although AI tools are increasingly accessible, success still depends on the quality of the idea and the creator’s ability to produce content audiences want to consume.
The festival is also placing emphasis on the next generation of digital and business talent through its Children’s Programme, which has brought young participants from countries including India, Brazil, China, Morocco, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates to Yekaterinburg.
The programme features 17 interactive laboratories and workshops across seven areas, including science and education, creative industries, media, IT, entrepreneurship, sports and public administration.
Participants are expected to develop practical projects with experts from Russian companies, with 60 initiatives scheduled to be presented at the Festival of Projects.
The scale of the gathering underscores the growing intersection between youth development, technology, entrepreneurship and the creative economy.
For emerging creators and entrepreneurs, the message from Yekaterinburg is increasingly clear: AI is not only changing how digital content is produced. It is also creating new demands for people who can combine technology with creativity, critical thinking and commercially relevant skills.
The International Youth Festival is being implemented under Russia’s national “Youth and Children” project and is being held under the motto “Follow Your Dream.”
