The Global South AI Safety Hackathon is a direct challenge to one of the most glaring blind spots in the AI safety field: the near-total absence of researchers from Africa, Latin America, and Asia in shaping how the world thinks about artificial intelligence risk.
About the Global South AI Safety Hackathon Program
Organized by Apart Research, an independent AI safety research organization, and supported by Schmidt Sciences, the hackathon runs over one weekend from June 19 to 21, 2026, combining online participation with in-person hubs across 13 cities in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. None of the top 100 institutions by AI publication index are based in Africa or Latin America, yet the regions face distinct and pressing AI risks, from deepfake-driven electoral interference and data dependency on foreign infrastructure to algorithmic bias trained on non-local data that surfaces in healthcare and hiring.
Funding Size
Regional prize pools are structured as follows:
- Latin America: $3,000 total, split across three winning teams
- Asia: $2,000 total, split across two winning teams
- Africa: $1,000 total awarded to one winning team
Who Can Apply
- AI safety researchers, engineers, and machine learning practitioners
- Policy researchers and analysts working on AI governance
- Software engineers with an interest in safety infrastructure
- Security researchers and red teamers
- Students and early-career researchers exploring AI safety for the first time
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Geographic Eligibility
- Latin America: hubs in São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Mérida, Guadalajara, and Santa Cruz (Bolivia)
- Africa: hubs in Cape Town, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Lusaka (Zambia)
- Asia: hubs in Bengaluru, Shanghai, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City
Sector or Thematic Focus
Within each regional track, participants choose between two sub-tracks:
Technical AI Safety: building safety tools, evaluation frameworks, and monitoring systems adapted to regional languages, sectors, and risk profiles.
AI Governance and Policy: research and analysis of regional regulatory landscapes, cross-border governance harmonization, and locally grounded policy recommendations.
Application Process
Registration is open through the Apart Research website. Participants sign up, form or join a team, choose their regional track and sub-track, and select whether they will participate remotely or at a local in-person hub. Teams then research and scope a specific problem, build their project over the weekend, and submit a research report in PDF format documenting their approach, results, and implications. Submitted projects are reviewed by expert judges from AI safety organizations, universities, and policy institutions within each region.
Required Materials
- Completed registration through the Apart Research website
- Formed team with a chosen regional track and sub-track
- Final project submission as a PDF research report documenting the approach, methodology, results, and policy or technical implications
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Key Dates
- Hackathon dates: June 19 to 21, 2026
- In-person hub dates: June 20 and 21, 2026 for most hubs
- Project submission deadline: end of June 21, 2026
Selection Notes
- Participants compete within their own regional track; winning teams are selected per region, not globally
- Judges are drawn from AI safety organizations, universities, and policy institutions with regional expertise