Forging the Future of Onchain AI: 0G’s Latest Hackathon Highlights

Over the past few months, 0G has been on the road (both virtually and physically) supporting a wave of builders pushing the boundaries of decentralized AI. 

From elite student competitions in Seoul to high-speed sprints in Shenzhen and Shanghai, and from ETHGlobal’s winner-stacked Trifecta experiment to a multi-week innovation marathon in Hong Kong, 0G-backed hackathons have surfaced some of the most exciting innovation in the blockchain and AI ecosystems.

Each event brought something different: new regions, new developers, and new ways of applying 0G infrastructure to real challenges. But together, they tell a story of momentum.

ETHGlobal Trifecta

ETHGlobal Trifecta was a 72-hour online hackathon unlike any other. Only previous ETHGlobal winners were invited to participate, making it a high-caliber, experimental event focused on pushing boundaries. 

For 0G, it marked the team’s first appearance as an ETHGlobal sponsor, and an opportunity to onboard seasoned builders to the next generation of modular infrastructure.

0G contributed a total of $5,000 in bounties, split between $2,500 that went toward Trifecta’s overall winners and $2,500 in 0G-specific tracks focused on decentralized storage and compute.

For the 0G Storage track, three teams were awarded $400 each for innovative and efficient integrations of 0G’s decentralized storage layer:

• CareAI: A privacy-preserving mental health assistant powered by onchain AI and ZKML.
• Model Wars: A decentralized marketplace for ML models, where performance determines rewards.
• Clampify: A fine-tuning interface for ML models deployed with zkML.

For the 0G Compute track, OGxbt earned $500 as the runner-up for compute integration with a Bitcoin oracle that uses AI agents to validate cross-chain data. All in all, none of the projects that submitted met the bar for the $800 first prize.

TinTinLand AI Agent Evolution Hackathon

The TinTinLand AI Agent Evolution Hackathon was a hybrid event spanning two months of online development and three days of high-intensity offline co-coding, culminating in a vibrant Hong Kong Demo Day. 

Organized by TinTinLand in collaboration with 0G and Flow, the hackathon challenged builders to explore the next frontier of intelligent agents across both infrastructure and consumer apps.

0G sponsored its own dedicated track focused on two key themes: “User-Friendly AI for Everyone” and “Building Rollups with 0G’s DA Layer.” Participants were encouraged to build tools that made advanced AI accessible to everyday users or to experiment with novel rollup and DA architectures leveraging 0G’s infrastructure.

0G awarded a total of $5,000 in prizes, including:

• $2,000 for 1st place: 0gChat – a user-friendly AI chatbot platform built on 0G compute.
• $1,000 for 2nd place: AnyCreative – a creative assistant powered by AI models using 0G infra.
• $500 each to four teams for best integration of 0G Storage or Compute: LinguaBridge, Swimming Coach, and 0G Gateway.

In total, over 250 developers participated, with 34 completed projects and 20 awards presented. The results demonstrated growing demand for scalable, developer-friendly AI tooling, and 0G’s infrastructure proved to be a critical enabler of innovation at the edge of onchain AI.

OpenBuild Offline Hackathons (Shenzhen & Shanghai)

As part of OpenBuild’s ongoing AI³ Growth Journey series, 0G sponsored two dynamic offline hackathons in China: a mini-hackathon in Shenzhen and a full-day build sprint in Shanghai. Both events were designed to accelerate collaboration between AI and web3 developers, with a strong emphasis on real-world applications and creator-friendly tooling.

Shenzhen Mini-Hackathon

In Shenzhen, over a dozen AI x web3 teams came together for a three-hour rapid build session. Despite the short timeframe, developers delivered impressive early-stage projects. 0G sponsored the event alongside Kite AI, Camp Network, Delysium, and Supra, helping kickstart the community’s exploration of decentralized AI infrastructure.

Winning projects included:

• AI Goal: An AI-powered goal planner focused on productivity and third-party verification.
• Game of Life: Generative NFT art based on Conway’s Game of Life, praised for its creative execution.
• EchoStone: A decentralized information hub.

The mini-hackathon served as an energizing launchpad for future AI x blockchain development across the region.

Shanghai Hackathon

The Shanghai edition took things up a notch with a hybrid format blending online learning and offline development. Over 50 developers gathered in person, building nine AI-infused web3 prototypes under the theme “Build Your First AI Agent on Web3 Infra.” Judges evaluated submissions based on innovation, technical execution, user experience, and commercial viability.

Winning projects included:

• OpenMemory: A visionary system for AI agent memory transfer with real commercial potential.
• 0xAuto: An intelligent trading tool that combines AI decision-making with web3 execution.
• Video to NFT: A creative pipeline for turning AI-analyzed video into copyright-protected NFTs.
• BlockRecruit (Best Vibe Award): A web3-native recruitment platform that impressed with energy and teamwork.

The Shanghai hackathon showcased the power of AI agents built on modular, decentralized infrastructure—just the kind of innovation 0G is here to support.

The Academic Frontier Hackathon

Hosted in Seoul and co-organized by LECCA Ventures and 0G, The Academic Frontier was a high-energy hackathon designed to spotlight AI agent innovation at the university level. With a strong academic focus, the event brought together elite student builders from Korea and the U.S. to transform cutting-edge research into real-world, decentralized AI applications.

More than just a hackathon, the day-long event featured interactive missions, a $10K+ raffle prize pool, and talks from 0G, BNB Chain, Monad, and ChainLight. Attendees competed in games like the “0G Squid Game,” connected with top builders and VCs, and capped the day with a Korean BBQ afterparty.

The pitch competition was the centerpiece, with judges selecting three standout projects from a large pool of university teams:

• 0G Build Block: A developer framework that makes building smart contracts feel like building apps, simplifying onchain development for a broader audience.
• Planisphere: An AI agent prediction market designed by a team of PhDs and professors, blending academic rigor with practical blockchain mechanics.
• ZeroEffortStaking: An AI-powered staking aggregator that aims to simplify and optimize DeFi strategies with minimal user effort.

The Academic Frontier showcased the potential of modular infrastructure to empower the next generation of decentralized AI builders and reaffirmed 0G’s role in helping bridge the gap between academia and application.

More to Come

While these four hackathons were an incredible start to the year, they’re just the beginning. With more events on the horizon, we’re continuing to support builders who are shaping the future of decentralized AI.