Shaping the future of blockchain and AI: Flare x Google Cloud Hackathon
In collaboration with Google Cloud, Flare is thrilled to announce the Flare x Google Cloud Verifiable AI Hackathon, taking place from March 7 to March 9, 2025 at UC Berkeley, California, USA, and virtually from March 7 to March 14 via DoraHacks.
Developers from around the world will gather to leverage Google Cloud's Confidential Computing and Flare’s enshrined oracles to build verifiably autonomous AI applications that push the boundaries of blockchain technology. They will compete in one of four available tracks: Social AI Agent track, RAG Knowledge track, DeFAI (DeFi x AI) track, and Consensus Learning track – each track designed to showcase the potential of Google Cloud Confidential Compute and Flare’s unique infrastructure.
There is a total prize pool of $60,000 for the in-person hackathon, and a total prize pool of $40,000 for the virtual hackathon.
What is the purpose of the hackathon?
User expectations for high-performance and data-rich decentralized applications (dApps) continue to increase. Due to the decentralized nature of blockchain, developers are often faced with computational and scalability limits, such as the high data storage costs and the computational power needed to process complex workloads on-chain.
The Verifiable AI Hackathon seeks to address these challenges through verifiable AI performed off-chain in Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs).
What are TEEs?
TEEs are hardware-secured environments that allow complex computations to occur in secure enclaves off-chain, while cryptographically proving the integrity of the results with attestations to end users. For instance, TEEs have been used in different industries and applications such as biological identification, where large amounts of sensitive data are involved.
The use of TEEs in blockchain can enable the full potential of blockchain through incorporating off-chain solutions to solve the issue of on-chain computational limitations – and thus bridging the gap between user-friendly Web2 standards and Web3 tech. Flare’s 2025 roadmap will focus significantly on DeFi and AI, with ongoing research into TEEs playing a key role.TEEs are hardware-secured environments that allow complex computations to occur in secure enclaves off-chain, while cryptographically proving the integrity of the results with attestations to end users. For instance, TEEs have been used in different industries and applications such as biological identification, where large amounts of sensitive data are involved. The use of TEEs in blockchain can enable the full potential of blockchain through incorporating off-chain solutions to solve the issue of on-chain computational limitations – and thus bridging the gap between user-friendly Web2 standards and Web3 tech.
Flare’s 2025 roadmap will focus significantly on DeFi and AI, with ongoing research into TEEs playing a key role.
Why should people participate?
- Win Prizes: There is a total prize pool of $60,000 for the in-person hackathon, and a total prize pool of $40,000 for the virtual hackathon.
- Bridge AI and Blockchain: the hackathon demonstrates how blockchain and AI can work together to create powerful dApps that are innovative, scalable, and secure.
- Lay Groundwork for Decentralized AI: as autonomous systems become more complex, the use cases will impact healthcare, finance, supply chain management, and more. The hackathon provides the opportunity for individuals to showcase what decentralized AI can provide to make AI systems more trustworthy via cryptographic proof of integrity.
- Foster the Global Developer Community: the hackathon is available for everyone to apply, with the virtual hackathon open and accessible to anyone. Showcase your skills and connect with other like-minded and passionate builders.
What are hackathon participants building?
The Verifiable AI Hackathon features four different tracks that encourage builders to explore a range of real-world applications for AI and blockchain integration. Each track focuses on leveraging Flare’s enshrined oracles and Google Cloud Confidential Compute and to unlock new possibilities.
The four tracks are:
- Social AI Agent: Build an autonomous AI agent that can manage and engage with Flare’s social media accounts securely.
- RAG Knowledge: Build a specialized Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) system with intelligent, verifiable content.
- DeFAI (DeFi x AI): Create a production-ready autonomous AI agent that can integrate with Flare's DeFi ecosystem.
- Consensus Learning: Build a system with tangible use cases that achieves fully decentralized consensus learning across multiple AI models.
Additional guidelines:
Regardless of the track, every submission must:
- Utilize TEEs provided by Google Cloud Confidential Compute for secure off-chain compute.
- Incorporate the use of Flare’s enshrined oracles for decentralized, real-time data access.
Participants are also encouraged to use Gemini AI models and datasets. For more developer resources, please refer to the Flare Dev Hub: https://dev.flare.network/.
How do I register?
There is both a virtual event and an in-person version of the Verifiable AI Hackathon.
For details on registering, please visit https://hackathon.flare.network/.
And be sure to note the hackathon timeline below.
Key Dates
In-Person Hackathon
- Registration period: February 3 - 17, 2025
- Participant Selection & Notification: February 17 - March 3, 2025
- Start: March 7, 2025
- Submission Deadline: March 9, 2025
Virtual Hackathon
- Registration period: February 3 - March 7, 2025
- Start: March 7, 2025
- Submission Deadline: March 15, 2025
- Judge Evaluation: March 28, 2025
- Winner Announcement: March 31, 2025
Register today!
Whether you’re looking to flex your skills by building innovative dApps, solve real-world challenges, or network with other developers, the hackathon is the perfect opportunity. Help push the boundaries of decentralized technology and AI through impactful solutions.
For more information about Flare and the hackathon, please refer to the hackathon page: https://hackathon.flare.network/.