AI news · October 22, 2026

I got into Meta's $1M AI hackathon (and you can still apply)

Approved for Meta's Global AI Developer Hackathon: ten days, Meta's newest models and $1M in prizes. Dates, EU/Hungary eligibility, credits and how to apply before 25 October.

~5 min read

I got approved for Meta's Global AI Developer Hackathon. I applied on 13 October and the approval email landed on 20 October. From 26 October I'll be building with Meta's newest models. I'll reveal what I'm building once the hackathon starts and share how it goes here and in the newsletter. Below: what it is, the dates, how you can still apply before the deadline, and what my first hackathon taught me.

Apply on Meta's page →

Meta hackathon 2026 key dates

Build window: 26 Oct to 4 Nov 2026 (kickoff livestream 26 Oct; workshops 27 Oct–4 Nov; submissions due 4 Nov, 9:00 PM ET / 5 Nov, 03:00 Budapest).

• Oct 13, 9:00 AM ET: applications open, reviewed on a rolling basis
• Oct 25, 11:59 PM ET: application deadline, or earlier if all 20,000 spots fill
• Oct 26, 9:00 AM ET: approval notifications sent by this time; hackathon kicks off with a livestream
• Oct 27 – Nov 4: live workshops from Meta and partners, plus office hours on Discord
• Nov 4, 9:00 PM ET: project submissions due (5 Nov, 03:00 Budapest time)
• Nov 4 – Nov 8: judging
• Nov 9: live finals and winners announced

Meta can change dates at its discretion.

What you build with, and what you can win

You get the Muse Spark series, Muse Image and SAM 3.1 on Meta Model API, plus Meta's open-weights models and Muse Code, Meta's agentic coding tool. Pick a theme, Build for Your World or Push the Frontier, and one of two tracks. The indie developer track is judged on creativity, technical ambition and whether it works. The startup track is judged on technical execution and whether it holds up in production. The $1,000,000 cash pool has no published split.

Credits for vibe coders

Meta's invite email says every selected participant gets $150 in Meta Model API credits. The public page doesn't state the amount, so treat it as invite-only until the Official Rules are out. At Muse Wonder's list price of $4 / $20 per 1M input/output tokens, that's 37.5M input or 7.5M output tokens (see my Muse Wonder post). Select participants can also get Baseten ($100), Modal ($100) and Fireworks ($25) credits for open-weights models.

Eligibility: EU and Hungary are in

It's open worldwide except where local law prohibits taking part or receiving a prize. Hungary and the rest of the EU aren't excluded. Excluded are sanctions targets, people and organisations in Belarus, China, Russia, Ukraine and Syria, sanctioned regions, and Meta and Cerebral Valley staff and their households. Selected participants must accept the Official Rules.

How to apply

Apply on the Meta event page (also listed on Cerebral Valley). Meta scores only your form: a clear, feasible idea that fits a theme, plus the technical skill shown in an AI project you describe. Apply early, because the portal can close before 25 October.

Flashback · Replit Agent 4 Buildathon · spring 2026

This isn't my first hackathon

This spring I joined the Replit Agent 4 Buildathon, a three-week challenge to take an idea from concept to launch. It ran on weekly checkpoints, and you had to meet each one. First you created a profile, then said what you were building, and then you kept posting about it in the dedicated Discord channel to get attention and feedback. Every checkpoint you met earned virtual cash that you could give to yourself or use to back other participants' apps. On top of that you made a canvas and videos showing what your app actually does, and at the end you needed a fully working web or mobile app.

• Explore
• Build
• Ship
• Judgement

Lots of people sign up. Only a few push through to the end.The weekly targets are tough, and they're what separates the people who finish from the people who don't.

My entry was CommentCatalyst. You add a merchant's shop or website URL, and it reads the branding, tone and colours to build a full brand kit. Then it uses Apify Actors to scrape social media for posts worth commenting on. Say a Facebook reel about Budapest: that's a great target for an Airbnb owner, who can comment "planning to visit? Happy to help." The people watching already like Budapest, so you're talking to your audience, and commenting is still free. If you want to see how I build Actors, read How I create Apify Actors people actually pay to use.

CommentCatalyst made it through every stage, but it wasn't picked for the top ten. It was fun, and it was a throwaway app, so I didn't take it further as a business. I built it on Replit, and I later moved my stack elsewhere: how I moved away from Replit and cut my stack to ~$20/month.

If you've never joined a hackathon, give it a try. This Meta one is free, remote and still open for a few more days. I'll keep sharing how mine goes, and in the newsletter I send the other hackathons that are open right now. Subscribe so you don't miss them.

FAQ

What is the Meta Global AI Developer Hackathon?

It's a ten-day, remote hackathon from Meta, free to enter if you're selected and open worldwide. You build with Meta Model API (Muse Spark series, Muse Image, SAM 3.1), Meta's open-weights models and Muse Code. Building runs 26 October to 4 November 2026, winners are announced on 9 November, and the cash pool is $1M.

When is the Meta AI hackathon 2026 application deadline?

Applications close on 25 October 2026 at 11:59 PM ET, which is 26 October at 04:59 in Budapest, or earlier if the 20,000 spots fill. Meta reviews applications on a rolling basis and sends approvals by 26 October, 9:00 AM ET.

Can I join the Meta hackathon from the EU or Hungary?

Yes, as of October 2026. It's open worldwide except where local law prohibits it, and no EU country is on the excluded list. Belarus, China, Russia, Ukraine, Syria, sanctioned regions and sanctions targets are excluded, as are Meta and Cerebral Valley staff and their families.

Do Meta hackathon participants get free credits?

Meta's invite email says every selected participant gets $150 in Meta Model API credits, but the public event page doesn't repeat the figure. Partners add credits for open-weights models to select participants: Baseten $100, Modal $100 and Fireworks $25.

How much prize money is there and what are the tracks?

There's $1,000,000 in total cash prizes across two tracks: indie developer (individuals and students) and startup (teams and founders building a real product). Every project enters one track. Meta hasn't published the prize split.

How are Meta hackathon applications judged?

Meta scores only your application form, on two equally weighted criteria: a clear, feasible project idea that fits a theme (Build for Your World or Push the Frontier), and the technical skill shown in an AI project you describe. GitHub or LinkedIn links help but aren't required.