Programmers, assemble: 400 compete in 24-hour hackathon by AI firms like Cursor, OpenAI

SINGAPORE - Pick any topic. Artificial intelligence generates a trivia question, then participants race to answer in one word faster than the AI models – that was one of the challenges of an online game that tests how humans fare against AI models.

The game, along with a video generator that makes corporate training feel like a Netflix show and an art generator that turns random scribbles into brushstrokes, was a winning project in a 24-hour Cursor Hackathon.

The competition, which started at 9am on Oct 18 at the Singapore University of Technology and Design campus, challenged more than 400 participants to come up with anything they wanted using AI.

The event was also the first time that big AI firms such as Cursor, OpenAI, DeepMind, Anthropic and Supabase came together in one place.

Participants were aged between 13 and 62, and they ranged from teenagers to engineers and start-up founders.

The top prize went to principal product manager Sritam Patnaik, who built an AI art generator that turns scribbles into digital art.

He received over US$43,000 (S$55,700) in credits with AI firms, as well as three months’ use of AI tools Manus Pro and ElevenLabs Pro.

Final-year Singapore Management University undergraduate Brian Chew came in second for his web game canyoubeatgroq.com, which pits humans against AI in logic, mathematics and word puzzles.

The third prize went to the creators of Neuroflix, a video generator that allows users to make engaging compliance training videos with employees as the stars.

The team comprised Mr Justin Baird, 50, co-founder of a carbon company tackling climate change; Mr Antoine Lee, 19, founder of a personalised learning platform for high school exams; and Ms Sharon Li, 35, co-founder of an insurtech company that serves as chief well-being officer for organisations.

They told The Straits Times that Mr Baird and Ms Li had both experienced how dull compliance training questionnaires can be within corporations. The only exception was one series where employees were the stars of the episodes.

People were actually excited for the next module, they said. The trio aim to develop Neuroflix into a full company.

The Cursor Hackathon was organised on a voluntary basis by five founders and operators of Singapore start-ups – Mr Ivan Leo, Ms Sherry Jiang, Mr Agrim Singh, Mr Kaspar Hidayat and Mr Gabriel Chua.

Mr Singh, a start-up founder, said: “It’s the first time you’ll see all these AI leaders in one place – even in the US, that never happens. They’re showing up in person to teach, guide and champion new talent, not just sending logos.”

Among the youngest participants was 13-year-old Usman Asif, who took part with his father, Mr Asif Saleem, 45, and 18-year-old sister, Ms Shanzey Asif.

Usman worked on a tool that can provide sports coaching, while his sister developed a website to provide information on the best times and locations to view planets and other celestial bodies in Singapore.

Noting that his daughter will soon be heading off to university, Mr Asif worked on a website called College Leap. It allows students to upload their report cards and get recommendations on what universities they can apply to based on parameters such as countries and regions, as well as their preferred courses of studies.

Mr Asif, who works in financial services at Google, told ST that while he has some tech experience, he was previously largely unfamiliar with coding, as were his two children. But they were able to quickly pick it up via courses on AI coding tools, which allow for code generation and debugging via written prompts.

“It’s a great family bonding activity,” Mr Asif said.