Overview
The Nebius x NVIDIA Global AI Hackathon invites AI builders, machine-learning engineers, founders, and others creating practical, high-performance AI to develop a working system on open infrastructure. The online hackathon runs from August 26 through October 30, 2026. Participants will use NVIDIA open-source models served on Nebius through Nebius Token Factory, or run projects on Nebius AI Cloud, with access to high-performance GPU infrastructure. The event encourages experimentation, practical applications, and projects that demonstrate how open-source AI can be put to work.
The organizers also describe optional in-person Builders & Brews events in nearby cities. Participants can find local event information through the linked city-events listing. The hackathon itself is listed as online.
Tracks and challenge
Every submission must run on Nebius Token Factory or Nebius AI Cloud and use at least one NVIDIA open-source model. Projects may be applications, agents, or other working systems, and should be entered in the track that best fits:
- Coding and Agentic Engineering: Build coding agents or developer tools that write, run, and test code, including in Token Factory Sandboxes.
- Best Apps and Agents: Create a useful application or agent, such as a productivity tool, copilot, or self-running workflow. The page highlights Nemotron models and suggests Nebius Serverless Endpoints or Serverless Jobs as optional deployment and processing tools.
- Personal AI: Build a private, always-on assistant with capabilities such as persistent memory, reusable skills, and user-selected tools and information. Suggested technologies include NVIDIA NemoClaw, OpenShell, Hermes Agent, and Nebius Serverless.
- Physical AI: Develop embodied or edge agents for robotics, IoT, or on-device intelligence. Suggested models include Nemotron, GROOT, Cosmos, and Sonic. Demonstration videos must show at least one minute of hardware or robot operation, or the key application modules if there is no physical hardware.
Submission and judging
Submissions require a working project, a selected category, and a description of what was created, why, and how it works. Participants must provide a working demo URL except for Physical AI entries, a public YouTube demonstration video of no more than three minutes, and a public code repository with an open-source license and setup instructions. The video should explain the use of Nebius Token Factory and NVIDIA models. Participants are also asked to provide feedback on Nebius and NVIDIA tools. Projects that existed before the submission period must explain what was significantly changed during it.
Judging considers technical implementation, design and completeness, potential impact for a real audience, and the creativity and quality of the idea. Listed judges include engineers and developer-relations, product, and technical leaders from NVIDIA, Nebius, and Tavily.
Prizes and eligibility
The page advertises more than $50,000 in prizes, including $20,000 for the grand prize, $10,000 for second place, and $6,000 for third place. Track awards include NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano devices; additional awards include cash prizes, city awards, and NVIDIA swag. Participants must be above the legal age of majority in their country of residence. The page excludes Brazil, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Quebec, and Russia. The submission deadline is October 30, 2026.
