The Global AI Hackathon is a free, virtual hackathon hosted by MIT RAISE and the App Inventor Foundation that encourages people of all ages around the world to build AI apps for a cause. The goal of the competition is to develop an AI app using MIT App Inventor that aligns with the competition’s theme and demonstrates creativity, social impact, design thinking, and technical skill. Winners will receive an all-expenses paid trip to present their projects at the MIT AI & Education Summit in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on July 16-18, 2025.
We encourage participants to utilize Day of AI resources as a starting point for creating their AI apps. You are invited to submit apps developed for class projects, the AP Digital Portfolio, or the Congressional App Challenge. However, please do not re-submit apps that were previously submitted to any official App Inventor competition, such as a prior Global AI Hackathon, Regional Appathon, Summer Appathon, App of the Season, or App of the Month.
If you are interested in sponsoring the Global AI Hackathon, please view our sponsorship guide to learn more about the available tiers and benefits.
Themes
This year’s competition theme is the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to the United Nations, the 17 SDGs are intended “as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.”
The Global AI Hackathon invites you to think of a cause related to one of the SDGs, and identify a solution that utilizes AI in a responsible and ethical way to address that cause.
Categories
There are four award categories in the competition:
- Youth individual (1 member, <18 years old)
- Youth team (2-5 members, <18 years old)
- Adult individual (1 member, 18+ years old)
- All-Ages team (2-5 members, any age)
One winning submission will be recognized for each category. Participants may only partake in one submission. For example, if you submit as a youth individual, you cannot also be part of a team submission.
Timeline
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Registration opens | March 3, 2025 |
| Submissions open | March 17, 2025 |
| Submissions due | April 14, 2025 |
| Winners announced | Mid-May |
Registration
All participants must complete the registration form in order to be considered for the competition.
If submitting as a team, each member of the team must submit the registration form individually.
The registration form can be completed at any time before the submission deadline.
Submission Requirements
To participate in the competition, you must have completed all of the following items by the submission deadline:
- Publish your app to the App Inventor Gallery or upload your app’s .aia file to Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.
- Create a two-minute video
- Create a Powerpoint or Google Slides presentation
- Fill out the Registration Form once per team member
- Fill out the Submission Form once per team
- Fill out the Participation Survey once per team member
Note that the submission form, registration form, participation survey, presentation, and in-app text must be in English. The video may be in any language, but must contain English closed captions or subtitles. The submission form and additional details will be made available in mid-March.
Below is an example of one of the winning submissions from the 2024 competition. You can find more submission videos from past winners here.
Judging
Submissions will be judged on the following criteria:
- Creativity: How novel is the app idea?
- Design: Is the app easy to use and intuitive to navigate? Is the user interface aesthetically appealing and consistent in its design?
- Technical Skill: Is the app fully implemented? Does the code make appropriate use of programming constructs, coding abstractions, and AI components?
- Impact: Does the app have the potential to make a meaningful impact in the selected theme? Does the app use AI in a responsible and ethical way that enhances its impact?
Prizes
A total of four submissions will be recognized as winners, with one winner per category. Winners will be featured in official press from MIT RAISE and the App Inventor Foundation, and receive all-expenses paid invitations to present their projects at the MIT AI & Education Summit in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on July 16-18, 2025. At the Summit, additional prizes will be awarded to select teams based on their project presentations.
For each winning party, the following number of representatives will receive all-expenses paid invitations to the Summit. Additional members of the winning and finalist parties are welcome to attend the Summit at their own expense.
| Category | Representatives | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Youth Individual | 1 winning individual + 1 parent/guardian | 2 representatives |
| Youth Team | 1 representatives from the winning team + 1 parent/guardian | 2 representatives |
| Adult Individual | 1 winning individual | 1 representative |
| All-Ages Team | 1 adult representative from the winning team OR 1 youth representative from the winning team + 1 parent/guardian | 1 OR 2 representatives |
Disclaimer: The Global AI Hackathon is open to anyone in the world, with the exception of United States embargoed countries (Iran, Cuba, Syria, North Korea, or Russia), regardless of age, nationality, gender identity, cultural identity, or political viewpoint. United States law prevents MIT from providing services to persons ordinarily resident in Iran, Cuba, Syria, North Korea, or Russia and to parties blocked by the US Treasury Department.