The Alexa Prize is an annual competition for university students dedicated to accelerating the field of conversational Al. The inaugural competition is focused on creating a socialbot, a new Alexa skill that converses coherently and engagingly with humans on popular topics and news events. Amazon will award the winning team $500,000. Additionally, a prize of $1 million will be awarded to the winning team’s university if their socialbot achieves the grand challenge of conversing coherently and engagingly with humans on popular topics for 20 minutes. Up to ten teams of students will be selected to receive a $100,000 stipend. Applications deadline is October 28. Click here for more information.