Honorees announced for 2026 AI Honors Gala

A co-founder who helped build the infrastructure on which the AI revolution runs. A pair of senators who chose collaboration over partisanship when the stakes couldn’t be higher. An entrepreneur who turned his television stardom into a platform for AI advocacy. A commanding general preparing the United States Army for an AI-driven battlefield. A scientist who is making history at one of America’s great national laboratories. And a civic leader who has spent her career making sure these innovations serve everyone. 

On June 3, 2026, the Washington AI Network (WAIN) will honor these extraordinary individuals at the second annual AI Honors Gala, Washington’s only black-tie evening dedicated to American AI excellence at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC. In an exclusive interview with Deadline, ““The AI Honors bring together the business, policy, and scientific leaders shaping the future of artificial intelligence at the very moment its impact on our economy, security, and daily lives is becoming impossible to ignore.” The honorees include: 

AI GLOBAL AMBASSADOR AWARD

Kevin O’Leary

Known to millions as Shark Tank’s Mr. Wonderful, Kevin O’Leary has put his money — and his megaphone — behind the AI revolution. Honored for his investments in AI implementation, data centers, and the convergence of AI with blockchain and digital payments, O’Leary has also become one of the most visible advocates for AI literacy as the foundation of future job security.

BIPARTISAN LEADERSHIP ON AI AWARD

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) & Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD)

In a city often defined by division, Senators Warner and Rounds have chosen a different path. Recognized for their sustained, bipartisan leadership in advancing thoughtful AI policy, the two senators have worked across the aisle at a moment of enormous consequence for America’s national security and economic future.

FOUNDER’S EDUCATION ACCELERATOR AWARD

Chris Malachowsky, Co-Founder and Fellow, NVIDIA

NVIDIA co-founder Chris Malachowsky was there at the beginning — helping create the computing architecture that now powers the world’s most advanced AI systems. His landmark investment in AI education at the University of Florida ensures that the next generation won’t just use that infrastructure. They’ll build what comes next.

AI LEADERSHIP IN NATIONAL DEFENSE AWARD

Major General Patrick J. Ellis

Commanding General, 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson

Major General Patrick J. Ellis has been at the forefront of preparing the United States Army for an increasingly AI-driven world. Honored for his visionary leadership at the intersection of artificial intelligence, operational readiness, and national defense, General Ellis represents a new generation of military leaders who understand that technological advantage and human excellence are inseparable. The award will be presented by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.

PUBLIC SCIENCE AWARD

Dr. Katherine (Kathy) Yelick, Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Dr. Katherine Yelick has spent her career pushing the boundaries of high-performance computing and machine learning. Her historic appointment as the first computer scientist to lead Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in its 90-year history represents a turning point, a powerful signal that AI is no longer simply a tool of science, but central to how science itself gets done.

CIVIC TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP AWARD

Michele Jawando, CEO, Omidyar Network

Michele Jawando has spent her career at the intersection of technology, policy and civic engagement with a singular focus: making sure that innovation serves everyone. As CEO of Omidyar Network, she brings that vision to one of the world’s most influential impact-driven organizations.

Together, this year’s honorees represent the full arc of what AI leadership looks like in 2026. As Tammy Haddad, founder of WAIN said, “The AI Honors bring together the business, policy, and scientific leaders shaping the future of artificial intelligence at the very moment its impact on our economy, security, and daily lives is becoming impossible to ignore.”

The 2026 AI Honors builds on the success of last year’s sold-out inaugural gala, which brought together voices from Congress, U.S. national security, scientific institutions, the Vatican, and industry. Year two deepens that commitment: to convene the key leaders across party lines, sectors, and disciplines, at the moment AI’s consequences are impossible to ignore.

2026 GALA SPONSORS

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Americans for Prosperity, Anthropic, Amazon, Bloomberg, Booking Holdings, Build American AI, Capital Power, Cohere, Constellation Energy, Flex Association, General Catalyst Institute, General Motors, GlobalWIN, IBM, JPMorganChase, LinkedIn, Microsoft, NobleReach Foundation, NVIDIA, Public Private Strategies Institute, Qualcomm, Salesforce, Scale AI, Silverado Policy Accelerator, Special Competitive Studies Project, TikTok, and Uber.

Artificial intelligence is moving beyond chatbots and into systems capable of taking action — and according to NVIDIA engineers Nader Khalil and Carter Abdallah, that shift is happening faster than most people realize.

During the 75th episode of the Washington AI Network Podcast hosted by Tammy Haddad, Khalil and Abdallah explored the rapid evolution of AI agents, the importance of open-source models, and how everyday users can better understand the technology shaping the future.

The conversation, recorded live at PubKeyDC, brought together two engineers who helped build Brev, the developer platform acquired by NVIDIA in July 2024. Khalil co-founded the company, while Abdallah joined as a founding engineer.

Originally designed to simplify access to NVIDIA GPUs, Brev allowed developers to launch fully configured systems across multiple cloud providers in minutes.

“It focused on connecting a bunch of clouds all in one place,” Khalil explained. “So when we give it to you, it’s just ready to go.”

Abdallah reflected on the uncertainty of joining an early-stage startup.

“How do you know whether it’s going to succeed or not succeed?” he said. “The answer is you don’t.”

A major focus of the discussion centered on the role of open-source AI models and America’s position in the global AI race.

“If there’s a closed source project and you don’t like the direction it’s going, you don’t have a choice,” Khalil said. “If there’s an open source project and you think they’re making a bad decision, you can propose the change — and if that change gets rejected, you can clone it.”

Abdallah highlighted NVIDIA’s Nemotron family of open models, which provide not only model weights, but also training data and architecture, allowing businesses and governments to customize systems for their own needs.

Khalil emphasized the geopolitical significance of maintaining U.S. leadership in AI development.

“If you look at where all the standards have been set, without a doubt, America’s the leader,” he said. “That’s why it’s important that we remain the leader.”

The pair also broke down one of the industry’s buzziest concepts: AI agents.

“When you give an LLM tools, memory, and access to the browser, that ultimately is what an agent is,” Abdallah explained, comparing large language models to the human brain — powerful on their own, but far more capable when connected to systems that allow them to act.

Khalil shared a live example of an AI agent running on a personal NVIDIA DGX Spark system that successfully located and paid his outstanding parking tickets in San Francisco. The agent reportedly attempted 22 different methods to solve an internet CAPTCHA before succeeding, highlighting both the persistence and current limitations of agentic AI systems.

The discussion also touched on “harnesses,” the surrounding infrastructure that enables AI systems to operate more independently.

“The harnesses got so good that you can actually just use them rather than have to build your own agent from scratch,” Khalil said. “That’s why we’re hearing the word agent and the word harness so much.”

Despite the complexity of the technology, both engineers stressed that AI interaction is becoming increasingly intuitive for everyday users.

“Interacting with these models is a different pattern for a lot of people to understand,” Abdallah said. “If it doesn’t work the first time, ask it why. These are more of an iterative process.”

He added that communicating effectively with AI systems relies on a skill most people already have.

“We all speak natural language,” Abdallah said. “You can now use that same skill for these systems.”

The full episode of the Washington AI Network Podcast is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two of the best political reporters will be presented with awards at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25 at the Washington Hilton — Josh Dawsey (WSJ) & Kaitlan Collins (CNN). “Groundbreaking reporting about the first year of President Trump’s second term” is the theme of the winners of this year’s journalism awards from the White House Correspondents’ Association.

Also at the dinner, two independently administered awards will be presented, one for reporting that revealed Medicaid fraud in Minnesota; the other a series of stories by the New York Times.

Here is the full list of the WHCA award winners. 

Politico wrote it all up this way: “AND THE AWARD GOES TO: The White House Correspondents’ Association announced its 2026 award winners, with the prize for overall excellence in White House coverage going to WSJ’s Josh Dawsey. Other winners include AP’s Aamer Madhani and Zeke Miller, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Getty Images’ Andrew Harnik, WSJ’s Khadeerza Safdar, Joe Palazzolo, Sadie Gurman, Annie Linskey, Alex Leary, Rebecca Ballhaus and C. Ryan Barber, KARE-11 and NYT’s Tyler Pager.”

Washington — The Washington AI Network hosted a podcast taping and reception featuring President Trump’s National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross and Cohesity CEO Sanjay Poonen. The standing room only crowd included leaders from technology, policy, and national security. Tammy Haddad interviewed both on the rapidly evolving threat landscape and why current defenses are struggling to keep pace. Cairncross pointed to a fundamental imbalance driving the problem. “The incentive scheme here is way out of whack,” he said, explaining that cyberattacks offer “a huge payoff for very little cost.” At the same time, defenders face an ever-expanding number of vulnerabilities.

From nation-state actors to ransomware groups, he emphasized that the challenge is only intensifying with artificial intelligence. “As AI is infused into this mix, the pace picks up, the speed picks up, and it becomes even more rewarding,” Cairncross said, underscoring the need for a stronger, more coordinated government response.

He also highlighted the importance of working with international allies, noting that cyber threats “don’t know borders,” as countries across Europe and beyond face many of the same attacks. The goal, he said, is to impose meaningful costs on bad actors and shift the current risk-reward dynamic.

Poonen echoed the need for deeper public-private collaboration, pointing to ongoing dialogue between industry leaders and government officials. “It was a really good dialogue…on how we could help in partnership,” he said, emphasizing that while companies are strong on defense, offensive capabilities must be led at the government level. “We can play cyber defense really well, but we need the government to play cyber offense.”

He also stressed the importance of modernizing government systems with secure infrastructure and noted that cyber threats facing the U.S. are increasingly mirrored globally. “Every NATO-friendly country and every democracy is going to see the same attacks,” Poonen said, referencing recent incidents abroad that reflect patterns seen in the United States.

SPOTTED: Alex Flemister, Lara Smith, Seval Oz, Lucy Ferguson, Senay Bulbul, Ryan Williams, Matt Gorman, Patty Stolnacker Koch, David Ashley, Maryam Mujica, Sumi Somaskanda, Phil and Chelsea Mattingly, Stephen O’Dwyer, Liz Johnson, Jaisha Wray, Firas Ibrahim, Nicoletta Giordani, Colin Moneymaker, Cat Zakrzewski, Harry Knight, Deniz Houston, Elizabeth Falcone, Julian Ramirez, Maggie Eastland and Benjamin Guggenheim.

The event brought together a cross-section of Washington’s technology and policy communities, highlighting the growing stakes of cybersecurity as AI accelerates both innovation and risk — and the increasing need for coordination across government, industry, and allies.

WASHINGTON — At a live recording of the Washington AI Network Podcast, Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel said artificial intelligence is poised to change that — bringing back the kind of personalized service travelers once got from a human agent, now through the devices they use every day.

Recorded at The House at 1229, the conversation was led by BBC News chief anchor Sumi Somaskanda, sitting in for Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad, in front of a room filled with leaders across tech, media, and policy.

Fogel, whose company includes Booking.com, Priceline, KAYAK, OpenTable, and Agoda, described a future where generative AI acts as an always-on travel assistant — one that understands preferences, anticipates disruptions, and can make real-time changes across flights, hotels, transportation, and dining.

“This is like a travel agent in my pocket,” Fogel said, pointing to the growing role of AI-powered tools across Booking Holdings’ platforms.

He outlined the company’s vision for a “Connected Trip,” where AI goes beyond booking to actively manage the full travel experience. From reworking itineraries due to weather to fixing missed reservations, the goal is to make travel more seamless from start to finish.

Fogel also highlighted how AI is already improving customer service, from cutting down wait times to helping agents respond faster and more efficiently. “You shouldn’t have to wait at all in the future,” he said.

At the same time, he acknowledged the challenges that come with how quickly AI is advancing, noting the difficulty for policymakers trying to keep pace. “It’s a dawn of a new age, and the problem is nobody has a good sense of what the future’s going to be,” he said.

The discussion also touched on digital taxes, global regulation, competition with major AI platforms, and how geopolitics continues to shape travel patterns worldwide.

SPOTTED: Sam Feist, Sarah Hudgins, Robert Hayes, Heather Kulp, Helen Milby, Meridith McGraw, Niamh King, Michael Petricone, Nicole Mortier, Jayne Sandman, Artur Orkisz, Matt Keller, Ruth Schipper, Angeli Chawla, Andrea Yang, Julian Ramirez, Sutton Tyson, T.W. Arrighi, Lisa Allen, Katy Balls, Christian Peña, Asad Ramzanali, Matt Gorman, Julian Graham and Danny Smith.

The episode is part of the Washington AI Network’s ongoing series exploring how AI is reshaping industries and everyday life. Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred platform.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) – the producer of CES® – is set to recognize a group of top U.S. policymakers and consumer technology innovators at its annual Digital Patriots Dinner and Consumer Technology Hall of Fame ceremony on April 21 during CTA Tech Week in Washington.

Among this year’s Digital Patriots honorees are White House Science & Technology Advisor Michael Kratsios, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), and U.S. Representatives Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Jay Obernolte (R-CA). Reps. Lieu and Obernolte are being recognized for their leadership of the bipartisan House Artificial Intelligence Task Force, which has worked to develop policy recommendations to guide the United States’ approach to artificial intelligence.

The Digital Patriots program honors government leaders who advance public policies supporting innovation, entrepreneurship, and growth in consumer technology. “Technology is transforming the world around us and strengthening America’s global leadership,” said Gary Shapiro, executive chair and CEO of CTA. “These honorees are helping drive that progress and have demonstrated a commitment to boosting innovation and the partnerships between industry and government that make it possible.”

“Our Digital Patriots and Hall of Fame inductees represent leaders shaping the policy and technologies that define the future,” said Kinsey Fabrizio, president of CTA. “Bringing those worlds together is core to CTA’s mission, and we are proud to celebrate the people moving innovation forward.”

CTA will also induct two prominent technology figures into the Consumer Technology Hall of Fame.

Gaming industry leader Reggie Fils-Aimé, the former president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America and founder of Brentwood Growth Partners, will be recognized for his leadership during the launches of major platforms, including the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo Switch.

Technology entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and founder of venture firm Seven Seven Six, will also be inducted for his influence on the development of online communities and his continued investments in emerging technologies and startups.

The dinner will take place during CTA Tech Week, which convenes policymakers, industry executives, and innovators to discuss the future of technology policy in Washington. The week also includes CES on the Hill, an exhibition highlighting emerging consumer technologies and the companies developing them.

The Digital Patriots Dinner has become one of Washington’s key gatherings where lawmakers and technology leaders meet to discuss the intersection of policy and innovation — a focus CTA says is essential as the United States navigates competition in artificial intelligence, advanced computing, and digital infrastructure.

WASHINGTON, D.C. —The residence of the French Ambassador Laurent Bili was standing room only as Jon Kelly, Puck co-founder, presented New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin with the First Amendment award at their annual celebration of the First Amendment.  Sens. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO) and Kevin Kiley (R-CA), joined media insiders, lawmakers, and technology leaders. 

Kelly praised Sorkin’s influence in business journalism and his role in shaping national conversations on markets, power, and the press. In his acceptance remarks, Sorkin warned that AI is moving faster than society is prepared for. “The real question is not whether jobs will change. It is whether we are ready for the scale of that change and what happens to the truth?”

Held at the elegant residence of Laurent Bili, the event celebrated the role of journalism in public life and drew a cross-section of Washington’s political, media, and technology communities. Conversations spanned the future of the media industry, the shifting relationship between technology and government, and the enduring importance of independent reporting. The gathering has become a fixture on Washington’s social calendar, drawing leading voices from politics, journalism, and business for an evening of celebration. 

The Puck journalists were there in force, including Dylan Byers, Peter Hamby, LeighAnn Caldwell, and John Ourand. The Trump Administration’s CMS lead, Chris Klomp, along with Noah Sofio, Alex Flemister, Seval Oz, and Karen Sessions, attended. Previous First Amendment recipients David Ignatius, Weijia Jiang, Kara Swisher, Amanda Katz, Cesar Conde, Kaitlan Collins, Pamela Brown attended. CTA’s incoming CEO Kinsey Fabrizio, Michael Petricone, Jill Hazelbaker, Josh Dawsey, Sumi Somaskanda, Cat Zakrzewski, Kasie Hunt, Katelyn Bledsoe, Olivia Igbokwe, Steve Thomma, Shawn McCreesh, Peter Baker, and Susan Glasser. Sarah Personette, Liz Gough, 

Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter, and the director Patty Jenkins, were also in attendance.

You needed the secret password—llama—to slip into the Washington AI Network Winter Speakeasy, but once inside, it was full holiday magic. Guests traded coats for Meta smart glasses, with Meta’s Head of Global Communications, David Ginsberg, front and center as an A-list mix of media stars, policy pros, investors, and technologists leaned into cocktails, karaoke, and just the right amount of AI-fueled mischief. The crowd voted on their most-used AI tools, confessed their favorite chatbot prompts, and fueled the fun with Dog Tag Bakery’s legendary Do-nies (donut-brownies).

Here is how Politico playbook mentioned the event:

SPOTTED at a Washington AI Network winter speakeasy, presented by Meta, at the House at 1229 yesterday evening: David Ginsberg, Kaitlan Collins, David Gelles, Josh Dawsey, Andy Stone, Matt Kaplan, Jackie Rooney, Brian Roehrkasse, Donnie Fowler, Phil Rucker, Maryam Mujica, Craig Gordon, Jonathan and Betsy Fischer Martin, Helen Milby, Katelyn Bledsoe, Sabrina Singh, Janet Adamy, Annie Linskey, Christine Brennan, Colin Demarest, Sumi Somaskanda, Keenan Austin Reed, Katy Balls, Lauren Williams, Emily Wilkins, Maggie Eastland, Naomi Nix, Victoria Espinel, Matt Paul, Matt Gorman, Adrienne Elrod, Dannia Hakki and Tammy Haddad.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Urges AI Leaders to Embrace Allies

Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad welcomed a sold-out audience of 300 top leaders from government, tech, and academia at the first AI Honors—Washington’s first official black-tie gala recognizing the promise, power, and people of artificial intelligence—at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC. Following the presentation of eight awards, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, gave remarks and expanded on the announcement from the president earlier in the day creating the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI).  The new Trump Administration’s initiative will support voluntary safety and technical standards for AI development, their goals for AI, safeguarding AI infrastructure from adversaries, securing semiconductor independence, expanding power for AI, reshoring advanced manufacturing with AI and robotics, and fixing the pharmaceutical supply chain.

“America must lead in AI, and that means embracing innovation while securing our infrastructure,” said Secretary Lutnick. “The new Center for AI Standards and Innovation will help ensure developers have clear, trusted guidelines—without unnecessary regulation—so we can stay ahead in the global AI race.”

Lutnick’s remarks outlined an “embrace your allies” approach to AI infrastructure, a push to reshore advanced manufacturing, plans to double U.S. power capacity for data centers, and a warning about supply chain vulnerabilities in both semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. He also issued a call to action to the leaders in the room, urging them to help drive a new era of American innovation: “We need to build and operate the greatest automation build in the history of modern mankind—and that is coming to America.”

Awards were presented by the evening’s MC, CNN anchor Sara Sidner, Representative Brendan Boyle, Fox News Jennifer Griffin, Amazon’s Olivia Igbokewe and AI AAlexander Hamilton. 2025 AI Honors Awardees are:

• Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.), Co-Chair, Senate AI Working Group — AI Impact in Governance Award
• Congressmen Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) & Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Co-Chairs, House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence — Bipartisan Leadership on AI Award
• Vice Admiral Frank Whitworth, Director, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency — Guardian of America Award
• Jack Hidary, CEO, SandboxAQ — AI Visionary Award
• Patricia K. Falcone, Ph.D., Deputy Director for Science & Technology, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory — AI Honors in Public Science Award
• Father Paolo Benanti, Vatican Adviser on AI Ethics — Ethics in Artificial Intelligence Award
• Ylli Bajraktari, President & CEO, SCSP; Founder, AI + EXPO — American Competitiveness Award
• Joanna Guy, Chief Technologist, Booz Allen; Zane Price, Space Llama Engineer, Booz Allen; and Don Polaski, VP of AI, Booz Allen — Space Innovation Award

The event was emceed by CNN anchor Sara Sidner, with awards presented by Rep. Brendan Boyle, Fox News Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin, and Olivia Igbokwe, Amazon’s Director of Federal Affairs for AWS.

The program included a few surprises, a video welcome from the leading tech podcaster Kara Swisher. Later in the evening AI Alexander Hamilton presented Congressmen Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) & Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Co-Chairs, House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence — Bipartisan Leadership on AI Award. Hamilton was created by Paul Jaski and the Gemelo’s AI Video Engine. Gemelo.ai is launching this Fall in partnership with some of the biggest names and organizations in media, sports, and the public sector.

Watch the entire program on the Washington AI Network YouTube channel. Subscribe and watch here.