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DigitalOcean Gradient AI Hackathon - Official Rules (Original Source)

Source URL: https://digitalocean.devpost.com/rules Fetched: 2026-03-04 (Asia/Seoul)

DigitalOcean Gradient™ AI Hackathon (the “Hackathon”) Official Rules

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

SUBMISSION OF ANY ENTRY CONSTITUTES AGREEMENT TO THESE OFFICIAL RULES AS A CONTRACT BETWEEN ENTRANT (AND EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF ENTRANT), THE HACKATHON SPONSOR, AND DEVPOST.

  1. Dates and Timing

Submission Period: Wednesday, January 28, 2026 (10:00 am Eastern Time) – Wednesday, March 18, 2026 (5:00 pm Eastern Time) (“Submission Period”).

Judging Period: Tuesday, April 7, 2026 (2:00 pm Eastern Time) – Tuesday, April 14, 2026 (2:00 pm Eastern Time) (“Judging Period”).

Winners Announced: On or around Monday, April 20, 2026 (2:00 pm Eastern Time).

  1. Eligibility

The Hackathon IS open to:

  • Individuals who are at least the age of majority where they reside as of the time of entry (“Eligible Individuals”); and
  • Teams of Eligible Individuals (“Teams”);

An Eligible Individual may join more than one Team and an Eligible Individual who is part of a Team may also enter the Hackathon on an individual basis.

The Hackathon IS NOT open to:

  • Individuals who are residents of, or Organizations domiciled in, a country, state, province or territory where the laws of the United States or local law prohibits participating or receiving a prize in the Hackathon (including, but not limited to, Brazil, Quebec, Russia, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and any other country designated by the United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control)
  • Organizations (including corporations, not-for-profit corporations and other nonprofit organizations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and other legal entities) that exist and have been organized or incorporated at the time of entry.
  • Organizations involved with the design, production, paid promotion, execution, or distribution of the Hackathon, including the Sponsor and Administrator (“Promotion Entities”).
  • Employees, representatives and agents of such Promotion Entities, and all members of their immediate family or household.
  1. How To Enter

Entrants may enter by visiting digitalocean.devpost.com (“Hackathon Website”) and following the below steps:

  • Register for the Hackathon on the Hackathon Website by clicking the “Join Hackathon” button.
  • Entrants may redeem $200 DigitalOcean credits via https://mlh.link/digitalocean-signup
  • All participants agree to uphold the MLH Code of Conduct.
  • Complete all required fields on the “Enter a Submission” page during the Submission Period.

Project Requirements

  • What to Create: Entrants must create a new working software application that uses DigitalOcean Gradient™ AI full stack features (each a “Project”).
  • Functionality: The Project must be capable of being successfully installed and running consistently on the platform for which it is intended and must function as depicted in the video and/or expressed in the text description.
  • Platforms: A submitted Project must run on the platform for which it is intended and which is specified in the Submission Requirements.
  • New Projects Only: Projects must be newly created by the Entrant during the Hackathon Submission Period.

Rules under New Projects Only:

  1. Teams can use an idea they had before the event.
  2. Teams can work on ideas that have already been done. Hacks do not have to be “innovative”.
  3. Teams can work on an idea that they have worked on before (as long as they do not re-use code or other project materials).
  4. Teams can use libraries, frameworks, or open-source code in their projects.
  5. Teams must stop hacking once the time is up. Teams are allowed to debug and make small fixes after time is up. Making large changes or adding new features is not allowed.
  6. Your code must remain public post event to be eligible for prizes.

Submission Requirements

  • Include a Project built with the required developer tools and meets the above Project Requirements.
  • Provide a URL to your code repository for judging and testing.
  • The repository must be public and open source by including an open source license file.
  • Include a text description that should explain the features and functionality of your Project.
  • Include a demonstration video of your Project.
  • Provide a detailed project description outlining usage and knowledge of DigitalOcean Gradient™ AI.
  • Optional: Provide a URL to a functional demo application.

Video portion of the Submission:

  • should be less than three (3) minutes.
  • should include footage that shows the Project functioning on the device for which it was built.
  • must be uploaded to and made publicly visible on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook Video, or Youku.
  • must not include third party trademarks, or copyrighted music or other material unless the Entrant has permission to use such material.

Language Requirements All Submission materials must be in English or, if not in English, the Entrant must provide an English translation.

  1. Judges & Criteria

Stage One: The first stage will determine via pass/fail whether the ideas meet a baseline level of viability, in that the Project reasonably fits the theme and reasonably applies the required APIs/SDKs featured in the Hackathon.

Stage Two: All Submissions that pass Stage One will be evaluated in Stage Two based on the following equally weighted criteria:

  • Technological Implementation
  • Design
  • Potential Impact
  • Quality of the Idea

Judges are not required to test the Project and may choose to judge based solely on the text description, images, and video provided in the Submission.

  1. Prizes

Overall Prizes

  • 1st Place
    • $8,000 USD cash
    • $600 in DigitalOcean credits
  • 2nd Place
    • $4,000 USD cash
    • $400 in DigitalOcean credits
  • 3rd Place
    • $2,000 USD cash
    • $200 in DigitalOcean credits

Bonus Prizes

  • Best AI Agent Persona
    • $2,000 USD cash
  • The Great Whale Prize
    • $2,000 USD cash
  • Best Program for the People
    • $2,000 USD cash

IMPORTANT NOTES ON MULTIPLE PRIZE ELIGIBILITY:

  • A project can only win one (1) prize.

Tax and delivery clauses in the rules include:

  • Required forms deadline is ten (10) business days.
  • Prizes will be delivered within 60 days of receipt of completed forms.
  • United States residents may be required to provide a completed form W-9.
  • Residents of other countries may be required to provide a completed W-8BEN form.