Official Rules
By registering, you agree to these rules in their entirety.
Dates
- Registration: April 26 - June 6, 2026
- Qualifier: June 7-10 11:59 ET, 2026
- Qualifier Results: June 12, 2026
- Hackathon Kickoff June 14, 2026 10:00 AM ET
- Build Period: June 14-21, 2026
- Submission Deadline: June 21, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET
- Judging: June 22-26, 2026
- Winners Announced: June 27, 2026 10:00 AM ET
Eligibility
Who Can Participate
✅ Current students enrolled "full-time" in high school (grades 9-12), undergraduate, or graduate programs
✅ From any country worldwide
✅ At least 14 years old
✅ Parental consent required if under 18
Team Requirements
- Team Size: 2-5 members (no solo participants)
Formation:
- Members can be from different schools/countries
- All must register individually on Devpost
- Mixed-level teams compete in highest track represented (e.g., 1 grad + 4 undergrads = Graduate track)
Who CANNOT Participate
❌ USAII employees and immediate family
❌ Event judges, mentors, organizers
❌ Non-students
❌ Teams that don't pass the qualifier
DISCLAIMER: USAII's Global AI Hackathon 2026 is exclusive to students only. Working professionals enrolled in any Degree or Doctoral Programs are not eligible to participate in the competition. Should anyone win the competition (in any category) and be discovered as a working professional, the prize and other benefits will be awarded to the next-best team/s.
Project and Submission Requirements
Phase 1: AI Readiness Qualifier (REQUIRED)
- Deadline: June 10, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET
- All teams must:
- Register on Devpost before June 6, 2026
- Complete qualifier between June 7-10 on external platform (link sent via email)
- Answer 8 structured AI thinking prompts
- Receive AI-scored evaluation
- Only top-scoring qualified teams receive approval codes for Phase 2
- Qualifier Results sent via email by June 12, 2026 11:59 AM ET
Phase 2: Hackathon Build
- Kickoff: June 14, 2026 10:00 AM ET
- Period: June 14-21, 2026
- Deadline: June 21, 11:59 PM ET
- Only teams with valid qualifier codes may submit.
Build Requirements
- All substantial work during June 14-21, 2026
- MAY use existing open-source libraries/frameworks
- MAY NOT submit pre-built solutions
- Originality:
- Must be original work by team members
- Open-source libraries permitted (with attribution)
- AI coding assistants allowed (must disclose)
- Proper attribution required for all external content
- Prohibited:
- Pre-hackathon work
- Plagiarism
- Unauthorized proprietary data
- Harmful/discriminatory systems
- Violating third-party terms of service
- Data & Privacy (Permitted)
- Open public datasets
- Synthetic data (disclose method)
- Public APIs
- Simulated data
- Requirements:
- Respect privacy laws
- No personal data without consent
- No proprietary data without permission
- No violating website terms
- Disclosure:
- All data sources must be listed in submission.
Submission Requirements
- Deadline: June 21, 11:59 PM ET
- Required:
- Valid qualifier approval code
- Complete project description
- Track and challenge selection
- AI architecture explanation
- Human-in-loop design
- Responsible AI guardrail
- Tools and data disclosure
- 3-5 minute pitch video
- Working demo or walkthrough
- Missing elements = automatic disqualification
- No edits after deadline
Eligibility Verification
- Winners must complete within 7 days:
- Student enrollment proof
- Age verification (parental consent if under 18)
- Tax documentation if required
- Winner agreement
International Winners
- Subject to local tax laws
- May need additional documentation
- Alternative fulfillment methods possible
- Longer processing time
Award Timeline
- Announced: June 27, 2026 10:00 AM ET
- Verification due: July 5, 2026
- Fulfillment: Within 30 days of verification
Forfeiture
- Failure to verify = prize to next-ranked team
Restrictions
- Teams may win ONE main prize + ONE special award
Judging Criteria
Projects evaluated by industry and academic professionals using track-specific INFORMS-aligned rubrics.
High School Track
- Problem Understanding & Context (30%)
Is the problem real, relatable, clearly explained? Clear user or community?
- AI Reasoning (20%)
Why AI? Could simple AI help? Appropriate for problem?
- Solution Design & Architecture (20%)
Clear input→AI→output flow? Understandable system explanation?
- Impact & Insight (20%)
Who benefits? What decision/action becomes easier?
- Responsible AI (10%)
Mentions concern (bias, privacy, over-reliance, misuse)? Plain language?
Undergraduate Track
- Problem Understanding (20%)
Clear decision context? Constraints acknowledged?
- AI/Analytics Reasoning (30%)
Justification of approach? Clear reasoning, not buzzwords?
- Solution Design & Architecture (25%)
Coherent system? Clear data→AI→output pipeline?
- Impact & Decision Value (15%)
Explains how insights change outcomes? Avoids "AI for AI's sake"?
- Responsible AI & Ethics (10%)
Addresses bias, hallucinations, privacy, failure modes? Explains mitigation?
Graduate Track
- Problem Understanding (20%)
Clear assumptions? Explicit scope and non-goals? - AI Reasoning (35%)
Architecture tradeoffs explained? Mentions evaluation strategy?
- Solution Design & Architecture (20%)
Modular system? Clear component boundaries?
- Impact & Insight (15%)
Connects to real decisions? Identifies stakeholders and risks?
- Responsible AI (10%)
Addresses bias, monitoring, misuse, drift? Lifecycle awareness?
Scoring Scale
1 = Missing/fundamentally flawed
2 = Present but weak
3 = Solid and reasonable
4 = Strong, well-executed
5 = Exceptional for level
Winner Selection
Process:
1. Validation & screening (June 22-23)
2. Judge scoring using rubrics (June 23-25)
3. Panel deliberation (June 25-26)
4. Final selection based on:
- Rubric scores
- Compliance with rules
- Successful verification
All decisions final and binding
Verification Rights
USAII reserves right to verify:
- Student enrollment
- Team eligibility
- Project originality
- Build timeline
- Qualifier codes
- Rule compliance
Code of Conduct
All participants must comply with USAII Code of Conduct.
Expected
✅ Respectful, inclusive communication
✅ Professional collaboration
✅ Accepting feedback gracefully
✅ Focus on learning and growth
Prohibited
❌ Harassment, intimidation, discrimination
❌ Offensive comments, personal attacks
❌ Sharing private information
❌ Cheating, rule violations
❌ Disrupting event/community
Reporting
Discord: Contact moderators
Email: aihackathon@usaii.org Subject: CONDUCT (confidential)
Consequences
- Warning
- Temporary suspension
- Disqualification
- Ban from future events
AI Tool Usage
Permitted
✅ Free AI tools
✅ Paid AI tools (judges don't favor these)
✅ AI coding assistants
✅ No-code platforms
Required
- Disclose ALL AI tools in submission
- Failure to disclose = rule violation
Disqualification
Grounds for disqualification:
- False information
- Code of Conduct violations
- Invalid/missing qualifier code
- Plagiarism, dishonesty
- Missing deadline
- Prohibited content
- Non-response to verification (7 days)
- Any rule violation
Disqualified teams forfeit all prizes.
Intellectual Property
- Teams retain full project ownership
- Teams grant USAII non-exclusive license to:
- Showcase winning projects
- Use in promotional materials
- Feature in events and publications
Open Source
Encouraged (not required)
Recommended licenses: MIT, Apache 2.0, BSD
Legal & Liability
Participation Agreement
By participating, you agree to:
- These official rules
- USAII Code of Conduct
- Release USAII from liability
- Allow use of name/likeness/project if winner
Privacy
Personal information:
- Used only for hackathon administration
- Not shared except as required by law
- Retained per USAII privacy policy
Modifications
USAII may modify rules with notice via:
- Email to participants
- Devpost announcement
- Discord #announcements
Contact
- General: aihackathon@usaii.org
- Conduct: aihackathon@usaii.org Subject: CONDUCT
- Tech Support: Discord #tech-support
- Urgent: aihackathon@usaii.org Subject: URGENT
Last Updated: 4/23/2026