Explosive Interest in Generative AI
In May 2025, the Generative AI Global Challenge international hackathon took place, already hailed as the biggest event of the year for developers and AI enthusiasts. According to VentureBeat, Wired, and the official hackathon website, over 7,000 teams from 72 countries registered in a week, and total participants exceeded 30,000 — an absolute record for such competitions.
New Challenges: Creativity and Science
Participants were tasked not only with creating generative models for text and images, but also with presenting solutions for music, 3D animation, molecular modeling, and even automating scientific publications. The key goal: to show how generative AI can accelerate innovation and make science more accessible.
Open Code and Collaborative Creativity
Organizers insisted on open source: all projects were posted on GitHub, and the best solutions were immediately added to a global model library. This stimulated knowledge sharing among teams and rapid project development. Many participants note that this approach opened doors for novice researchers and startups.
Records and Winners
The jury included experts from Google, OpenAI, MIT, and Stanford. Winners presented not only technological innovations (like the generation of new medicinal molecules) but also original creative projects, such as generating unique painting styles or musical tracks on the fly.
Impact on Industry and Education
Organizers and experts believe that such hackathons will drive AI development and serve as a great platform for discovering young talents and collaborations between industry and academia. Already, winners are receiving internship offers, grants, and investments to launch their startups.
Prospects: The Next Stage
In 2026, organizers promise to make the contest even bigger: expand the range of challenges, add tracks for medicine, education, cybersecurity, and the humanities. More and more companies and universities are confirming their participation in future hackathons.