College students competing in “America’s Startup” contest use AI to start businesses from their dorms

October 7, 2026 / 1:17 PM EDT / CBS News

One startup uses artificial intelligence to help winemakers better predict crop yields. Another uses insights gleaned from AI to enable earlier detection of skin cancer, while a third develops a seaweed-based hydrogel fire suppressant that's free of "forever chemicals."

The entrepreneurs behind these tech-forward startups have one thing in common: They started the companies from their college dorm rooms to participate in "America's Startup," a government-backed collegiate innovation competition that's part of America250, the congressional commission behind the U.S.'s 250th anniversary celebration.

America250 chair and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Rosie Rios, who leads America's Startup, told CBS News she expects a wave of innovation led by Generation Z entrepreneurs, who will be the first AI-native cohort of workers to enter the job market upon graduation.

"They really hit the ground running and are not intimidated by it," Rios said. She also thinks AI will help broaden the skills and experience of new entrants to the job market, much as the internet did for millennials.

"It's no longer what they learned at home or in a classroom — it's what they see and have access to," said Rios, adding that AI…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/moneywatch/