The AI Honors is Washington’s only black-tie gala dedicated to artificial intelligence. Each June, the Washington AI Network gathers leaders from government, industry, academia, and civil society to recognize the people shaping how AI is built, governed, and put to use.
The premise is simple. AI’s direction will be set by people, and the people setting it in Washington rarely share a room. The AI Honors puts a senator next to a four-star general next to a Vatican envoy next to a chip founder, and it does so across party lines, which is how the Washington AI Network has operated since it launched in July 2023.
2026: Seven Honorees, One Stage
The second annual AI Honors drew more than 400 leaders to the Waldorf Astoria on June 3, 2026, and honored seven Americans shaping the future of AI. The evening featured remarks from Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, NVIDIA co-founder Chris Malachowsky, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, papal nuncio Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, and entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary. CNN anchor Pamela Brown emceed. The program aired on C-SPAN.
“When the Secretary of the Army, a cofounder of NVIDIA, a serial entrepreneur, a National Lab director, and the Vatican’s representative to the United States are all on one stage, this is Washington at its best,” said Washington AI Network founder and CEO Tammy Haddad.
The Washington AI Network also released national polling conducted with Morning Consult, surveying 1,501 U.S. adults on how Americans use, trust, and want to govern AI. The findings showed a sharp split between daily AI users and everyone else, with the two groups answering questions about trust, elections, and institutions 20 to 40 points apart.
2025: The Inaugural Year
The first AI Honors was held June 3, 2025, at the Waldorf Astoria before a sold-out audience of 300. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick delivered the keynote, using the evening to expand on the newly announced Center for AI Standards and Innovation and to lay out the administration’s approach to allied AI infrastructure, semiconductor independence, and power capacity. CNN anchor Sara Sidner emceed, with awards presented by Rep. Brendan Boyle, Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin, and Olivia Igbokwe of AWS.
“We need to build and operate the greatest automation build in the history of modern mankind,” Lutnick told the room, “and that is coming to America.”