The AI Builder Challenge 2026 Official Rules cover registration, teams, the October 6-10 build period, required final submission, three peer reviews per eligible participant, exactly 10 jury finalists, the five-criterion jury rubric, Community Choice voting for every eligible accepted public project, awards, ownership, integrity, and appeals.
Official AI Builder Challenge 2026 rules for eligibility, dates, submissions, peer review, judging, Community Choice voting, awards, ownership, and fair participation.
Scope and dates: The AI Builder Challenge is an online five-day build programme running October 6-10, 2026. The live kickoff is October 5, 2026 at 12:00 PM Eastern Time. Registration and team formation close October 5, 2026 at 11:59:59 PM Eastern Time, final submission closes October 10, 2026 at 11:59:59 PM Eastern Time, peer review runs October 11-12, 2026, and the Community Showcase is October 15, 2026. Official times use Eastern Time in New York, while the participant dashboard shows local conversions.
Eligibility and teams: Each participant registers before the deadline, uses an active account with a verified email, completes the participant profile, and follows the Rules and Code of Conduct. Challenge registration includes a free Explorer conference pass when needed. Builders may work solo or in one team of up to four registered participants, with one shared project per participant or team. WomenTech LLC is the Organizer.
Project scope and submission: Code, low-code, no-code, and mixed approaches use the same criteria. AI must have a clear, meaningful role. Existing work is allowed when the submission documents the starting point and distinguishes what was built or changed during the Challenge. Daily Mission check-ins are optional. Final submission requires the project story, AI and responsible-build details, and a public working URL reviewers can open without private credentials. Source code and recorded demos are optional.
Peer review and jury: Each eligible participant must complete all three assigned reviews during the peer-review window. Each review contains four 1-to-5 ratings and useful written feedback. Completed review averages produce a provisional ranking, which the Organizer validates for eligibility, coverage, patterns, outliers, conflicts, and a written cutoff tie-break when needed before locking exactly 10 finalists. Jurors disclose conflicts and do not evaluate affected projects.
Community Choice and awards: Community Choice is open to every eligible, organizer-accepted public project, including projects outside the 10 jury finalists. Registered, email-verified Challenge participants may select up to three distinct projects but may not vote for their own or a teammate's project. Voting opens October 11, 2026 at 12:00 AM Eastern Time and ends October 15, 2026 at 12:00 PM Eastern Time. Community Choice does not change the jury result. If two or more projects share the highest validated vote total, the Organizer must record a documented human tie resolution before approving one Community Choice winner. The record identifies the tied projects, validated totals, eligibility and manipulation checks, non-conflicted decision-makers, the basis for the decision, and a result summary suitable for publication.
Prize Fund: The Community Choice cash prize equals the lower of eligible verified Prize Fund principal at the approved allocation freeze and USD 5,000. USD 5,000 is a cap, not a guaranteed minimum. Supporter rank and contribution amount do not influence eligibility, review, judging, voting, presentation order, or either winner. The current Prize Fund terms govern payment, refunds, disputes, cancellation, and no-winner handling.
Integrity, ownership, and decisions: Participants must represent work honestly, respect third-party rights, protect data and credentials, avoid harassment and discrimination, and never manipulate review, voting, jury contact, or platform operations. Participants retain project ownership. Project publication requires creator consent and organizer acceptance; participant identity requires separate public-profile consent. Code decisions use the appeal procedure published in the Code of Conduct; Rules and eligibility questions may be raised through the contact route.