Triangle AI Hackathon 2026

about this event

The Triangle AI Hackathon (formerly the Duke AI Hackathon) is a weekend-long, in-person AI Hackathon for students to build with AI in a friendly and fun environment, hosted by Duke Engineering. This year we're opening it up to students from all NC universities. No prior hackathon (or even coding) experience required.

Prepare for a hands-on AI Hackathon where you'll go beyond just coding—you'll build a full-fledged application that integrates AI to solve real-world problems. Your deliverable is not just a model, but an application in action. Register at our registration form. View the full schedule, tracks and FAQ at triangle-ai-hackathon-site.vercel.app.

Participating teams receive $120 credits from Thinking Machines and $100 credits from Google Cloud, along with education sessions and mentoring. Free food, snacks and drinks are provided throughout.

Objectives: To provide a hands-on experiential learning opportunity for college students in building new-to-the-world AI-powered software products. To foster a climate of entrepreneurship among college students, encouraging them to consider technical entrepreneurship as a career pathway.

Eligibility: Open to students from all NC universities (undergraduate and beyond), of any major, with and without technical experience. All teams must be in person for both the event kick-off (Friday, Nov 6) and judging (Sunday, Nov 8) in the Wilkinson Building on the Duke campus. Teams can include up to 4 students.

Use your AI model and build the application: Start by developing and training your AI model, or use an off-the-shelf model, to solve the problem you've identified. Once your model is ready, integrate it into your application. This could be a mobile app, a web app, a command-line tool, or any other format that effectively showcases your AI solution in action. Focus on creating a seamless experience where the AI model enhances the application's functionality.

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