GM fellow Arweaver!
HackerNoon’s Decentralize AI Hackathon is running right now, backed by the Arweave ecosystem and other sponsors. It offers a prize pool worth over $50k and a blog generator that makes entering straightforward.
Read on for the details.
2,000 $AR up for grabs in HackerNoon’s Decentralize AI Hackathon
HackerNoon is currently running the Decentralize AI Hackathon, a global competition for developers and early-stage startups building open AI infrastructure. The Arweave ecosystem joins Nosana and MEXC as main sponsors.
A $51,750+ prize pool spans storage credits on Arweave, compute credits, and cash rewards, split between participants and across two rounds.
As an added incentive, the decentralizeai.tech domain and codebase will be handed over to the grand prize winner.
Open to anyone with a vision
Decentralize AI welcomes individuals and early-stage startups, whether they're launching something entirely new or building out a current project. Concept-stage ideas with clear technical direction are encouraged. What’s interesting nowadays is that AI and no-code tools have made building more accessible than ever. All you need is a vision to get started.
Entering the contest just takes one published post. The hackathon makes it quick and straightforward with an AI-assisted tool to help you write your post. The Blog It generator guides you through several steps to define your idea's topic, context, and strategy. Once you’ve gathered your thoughts, simply choose from three open-source models to generate your post.
Writers who prefer to pen their own words can, of course, publish directly on HackerNoon without using the blog generator.
The judges, including HackerNoon’s CEO David Smooke, will be looking for technical depth, originality, real-world impact, clear communication, and proof of research and evidence.
Arweave matters for decentralized AI
AI builders and AI agents rely on data that needs to stay available, and Arweave delivers exactly that. As readers of Arweave Weekly, you know this well. Entering the hackathon is a chance to share Arweave’s utility with the HackerNoon community and put the permaweb on the radar of more high-intent builders.
Datasets stored on Arweave remain immutable, publicly accessible, and censorship-resistant, which gives AI work a dependable home. Natural fits for Arweave include permanent model storage, verifiable AI, open inference, and data sovereignty tooling. Datasets, model weights, provenance records, and AI outputs all fit onchain.
Whether you want to bring a fresh concept or a project you’ve been hacking on with AO, entering the hackathon is a chance to show what the permaweb can do.
Arweave prizes and credits
1,000 $AR goes out as cash prizes to various winners over the hackathon’s two rounds. Nosana, HackerNoon, and MEXC each offer their own rewards, all detailed on the hackathon’s FAQ page.
The Arweave ecosystem contributes another 1,000 $AR in storage credits for qualifying and winning projects building on permanent, decentralized storage. These let you store AI datasets, model weights, and provenance records on the Arweave network.
Round 1 ends soon
Round 1 runs until October 31, 2026. Round 2 opens in November 2026 and closes in February 2027. You’re welcome to enter both rounds, which gives you a natural way to share progress as your project evolves.
Enter at decentralizeai.tech.
And if your entry gets selected for publication, make sure to send a link our way. We'd love to feature community concepts in a future issue.
Good luck!
ICYMI 👀
Here’s a quick snapshot of what’s been unfolding across Arweave and AO.
- The State of Anyone X Space
- Self-documenting HyperBEAM nodes
- Apus drops sneak peek of Permafly simulation
This week's community feature 🧑💻
The team behind Rune Realm is now working on Paralith and has been posting regular updates as building progresses. Recent posts mention testing on a new HyperBEAM orderbook and a bridge for moving assets from Base, Solana, and Sui.
Check out their updates on X at @paralith_market.
Thanks for reading!
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Follow us on X at @onlyarweave to stay updated on all things Arweave. Want to dive deeper into AO? Check out @aoComputerClub.
The Longview Team
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