about this event
Cornell's First True Local AI Hackathon. Local AI models have grown increasingly powerful; the frontier of yesterday can run on your laptop today without the need for a power-hungry data center.
We've teamed up with some of the most exciting companies in the space to challenge builders to make an incredible AI-powered app that runs entirely offline. Here's what we're building with: Bonsai 2 — 2B, 4B, and 9B: the highest intelligence density model in the world, compressing each weight into 1.5 bits. Argmax OSS: on-device SDK for frontier speech recognition, generation and speaker recognition. LM Studio: the easiest way to experiment with local and open models.
Judging will be based on several tracks that are announced day-of, however this is otherwise an open build event. Outside of using the LLM and speech sponsors, you are free to build whatever AI-powered solution you please. Replace your AI note-taker, build a tutor, make your alarm clock personally roast you — the world is your oyster.
Several days before the event, a Discord server will be created to help with team formation. This server will also have engineers from our sponsors who you can reach out to at any point.
Prizes: Prizes will be awarded to the three winning teams, with two smaller prizes for specific tracks. First Place: M6 Mac Minis, sponsored by Argmax Inc. and PrismML. Second Place: $350 gift cards. Third Place: $100 gift cards. Best Conversational App: $500 for the best app with conversational features. Judges Choice: $100 for the best app with conversational features. Locally Made: $100 for the best app coded entirely using open models — it is up to the participants to prove this. Winners are mutually exclusive, so no team can win more than one prize. Winners will be decided by a panel of judges including Cornell professors and employees at sponsoring companies.
Teams: You can either participate solo or in a group of two. This is a hard limit because there are only two of each prize. If you somehow end up in a group of more than two (highly not recommended), then you must figure out how prizes will be split. Any arguments over ownership will result in a forfeited prize for the entire team.
Coding: No coding plan required! LM Studio Bionic will be providing $100 in credits to all participants (also usable after the event) to use open models like DeepSeek and Kimi K3 for free for the duration of the event.
Hiring: Bring a resume! LM Studio and Argmax Inc. may be interested in hiring talented builders.
Schedule — Saturday, November 14th: 11:00am–11:30am Check-in; 11:30am–11:45am Welcome ceremony; 11:45am–12:15pm Introduction to challenges and getting started with tools, with speakers from PrismML and Argmax, Inc.; 12:15pm–12:30pm Sendoff, building begins. Sunday, November 15th: Submissions due at noon, meet back at Gates; 11:00am–12:00pm Judging period, decide top 10 teams for live demos; 12:15pm–1:00pm Live demos; 1:00pm–1:30pm Final judging period; 1:30pm–2:00pm Final winners announced, closing ceremony.
Media Notice: By showing up, you are agreeing to be featured or included in media that may be published by event organizers or sponsors.
tracks
Open Build
An open build event: apart from using the LLM and speech sponsor tools, participants may build any AI-powered solution they like. Several judging tracks are announced on the day of the event.
Best Conversational App
Award for the best app with conversational features.
Locally Made
Award for the best app coded entirely using open models; participants must prove it themselves.
when
Day 1 — Check-in, Welcome & Building Begins
11:00am–11:30am Check-in; 11:30am–11:45am Welcome ceremony; 11:45am–12:15pm Introduction to challenges and getting started with tools, with speakers from PrismML and Argmax, Inc.; 12:15pm–12:30pm Sendoff, building begins.
◍ Cornell University Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information ScienceDay 2 — Judging, Live Demos & Closing Ceremony
Submissions due at noon, meet back at Gates; 11:00am–12:00pm judging period to decide the top 10 teams for live demos; 12:15pm–1:00pm live demos; 1:00pm–1:30pm final judging period; 1:30pm–2:00pm winners announced and closing ceremony.
◍ Cornell University Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Sciencetickets
| tickets | price | Fee | Status | description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Admission | Free | None | Available | Free entry to the hackathon. No coding plan required; LM Studio Bionic provides $100 in credits to all participants. |
prizes
| # | PRIZE | price |
|---|---|---|
| First Place | M6 Mac Minis | TBA |
| Second Place | $350 gift cards | $350 |
| Third Place | $100 gift cards | $100 |
| Best Conversational App | Cash prize for the best app with conversational features | $500 |
| Judges Choice | Cash prize for the best app with conversational features | $100 |
| Locally Made | Cash prize for the best app coded entirely using open models | $100 |