AI Negotiation Challenge
3rd Annual
Global Simulation

25 - 26 April 2026

Global Online Event

Two-day global event hosted online by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

30+ Negotiation Teams

An international negotiation competition on AI integration, strategic reasoning, and coalition-building under pressure.

Focusing on Arctic Diplomacy

A simulation inspired by real events amid accelerating geopolitical tension and climate transformation.

Climate Negotiation
with AI-Enhanced Collaboration

Reimagining Multilateral Diplomacy in the Age of AI

An online event hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in collaboration with Frontline Associates’ AI Negotiation Challenge platform and its partners.

A high-stakes reenactment of a multilateral conference on security and cooperation in the Arctic, situated at the intersection of geopolitical tension, climate transformation, and human security.

Participation in teams, each assigned a specific state or non-state role, requiring internal coordination and coalition building while representing defined mandates and interests.

An opportunity to test your AI abilities with professionals and graduate students from around the world using their own AI models and tools, applying them to negotiation planning, scenario development, and drafting—while adhering to principles of safe, effective, and responsible use.

A structured program combining expert briefings and immersive negotiation rounds to develop disciplined strategy and coalition-building under real-time pressure.

A competitive progression culminating in a final drafting round and the 2026 AI Negotiation Challenge Global Award.

Reimagining Multilateral Diplomacy
in the Age of AI

2026 Global Simulation

Hosted Online by:

Arctic Security: A New Ground for International Cooperation

The 2026 Global Simulation focuses on one of the defining tests of contemporary diplomacy: renewing a global commitment for security and cooperation in the Arctic amid geopolitical rivalry, climate acceleration, and rapid economic and social transformation. It represents:

Systemic Stakes: The Arctic is no longer a peripheral region but a global stress point where climate disruption, strategic competition, resource access, indigenous rights, and economic transitions intersect with direct consequences for global stability.

Key Objective: Negotiation teams will explore viable frameworks for maintaining security and cooperation in the Arctic while integrating the safe, effective, and responsible use of AI into diplomatic processes and strategic decision-making.

Core Challenge: Participants must manage competing sovereignties, asymmetries of power, environmental risk, and economic uncertainty—while ensuring that AI enhances analysis without distorting judgment, accountability, or trust.

Simulation Goal: The exercise aims to promote coalition-building and principled AI integration, reinforcing the primacy of human-led reasoning, ethical responsibility, and relational diplomacy under real-time pressure.

This challenge underscores the critical role AI can play in fostering data-driven strategies and ethical decision-making in tackling one of humanity’s most pressing challenges.

Main Features of the Global Simulation

Format

Two half-day simulation sessions structured as a high-level multilateral conference with plenary sessions and breakout negotiation rooms combining
expert briefings, AI-assisted negotiation rounds, and final drafting session

Negotiating Teams

Participants register in teams of three to five members composed of practitioners and graduate students. One team coordinator completes the registration.
Team registration fee: USD $40

Package includes:

Full access to all Global Simulation activities
Regular live briefing sessions
Complete case materials and instruction booklet
Access to video tutorials on how to craft and prepare your GPT model

AI-assisted

Immersive setting to deploy, test and integrate your own AI model in live negotiation rounds. A competitive process culminating in a final drafting round and Global Award recognition