A global AI research and building event · by Exea Labs
Catalyst gives students free cloud GPU compute to run a real AI research project online, then brings the strongest teams to regional semifinals in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York City, before the best advance to the final in San Francisco.
Proposed in collaboration with Hack Club. Currently being developed for Hack Club consideration.
The event, end to end
Online round
6 weeks of research and building, open worldwide
Regional semifinals
San Francisco · Los Angeles · Seattle · New York City
The final
San Francisco — the strongest teams advance
In development proposed in collaboration with Hack Club
03Why this event
Every barrier below is real, and none of them are about talent. Catalyst is built to remove five of them at once, because removing only one does not help.
Hardware decides who does research
The interesting experiments need GPUs. GPUs cost more than most students' whole computer.
Ideas outnumber allocations
Plenty of students have a good question and no way to run it even once.
Hackathons reward speed
48 hours rewards what can be demoed, not what can be found out. A training run does not fit.
Research programs gate on credentials
Most require a university, a professor's introduction, a GPA, a fee, or a passport.
Research rarely becomes a product
The result gets a poster and then nothing. Students almost never get to build the polished version.
Free compute, allocated
Eligible participants receive finite GPU allocations tied to their project. The hardware barrier stops deciding.
Six weeks, not one weekend
Long enough to run something, watch it fail, and run it again. That is where the learning is.
Three pathways
First project or original research, each judged against its own rubric. No pathway is the real one.
Mentorship and a public feed
Office hours, weekly feedback, and hundreds of people posting what broke this week.
An in-person build sprint
Findings become a polished, working thing, in one room, with hardware and help on hand.
Shipping is the finish line
Every project publishes: repository, demo, write-up. A result nobody can use is not finished.
Take the six weeks away and this is a hackathon. Take the compute away and it is a reading group. Take the in-person final away and it is a competition nobody remembers. The three together are the argument.
04The journey
Start online, earn a place at a regional semifinal, then bring the strongest version of your project to San Francisco.
Stage 1 · Six weeks
Start solo or find a team, choose a pathway, and turn a real question into a working project with free compute.
OutcomeYou leave with a shipped project and written feedback.
Stage 1 · Six weeks
Start solo or find a team, choose a pathway, and turn a real question into a working project with free compute.
Stage 2 · In person
Selected teams meet in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, or New York City to present what they found and improve the project with direct feedback.
Stage 3 · San Francisco
Finalists gather for one last build sprint, a public showcase, and live judging focused on what the project can do.
05Pathways
Pick the pathway that matches what you want to make, not how good you think you are. Every pathway is judged on its own rubric, and every pathway can win.
Launch is about applied judgment: picking the right existing model, wiring it into something real, and proving it works for an actual person. Most software that matters is built this way. Nobody here will call your project a wrapper, because a tool that solves a real problem for a real user is the hardest of these three to fake.
A working thing with users, an honest evaluation of where it fails, and a clear account of what you tried before it worked.
NoteEvery pathway is judged against its own rubric. A Launch project is never scored against a Frontier project, and every pathway can win.
Twelve things somebody could build
all hypothetical, all doable in six weeks06Where it happens
Semifinals bring selected teams together in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York City. The strongest projects return to San Francisco for the final.
Host city for the West Coast semifinal and for the final. Finalists from Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York City travel here to compete for the title.
City detailsExact venue and dates coming soon
NoteCities are confirmed. Exact venues and dates are coming soon. Travel support is subject to partnership and funding.
07Wall of Fame
No invented winners and no placeholder rankings. When Catalyst begins, this wall will fill with real projects, real builders, and the stories behind what they shipped.
The first public projects will unlock these spots as participants begin shipping.
Build toward the wallReserved for a real participant project.
Reserved for a real participant project.
Reserved for a real participant project.
Inspired by rewards from Hack Club programs. Final items depend on funding, availability, and region.
Examples only. Specific rewards are not guaranteed and may vary by region.
Questions
The essentials about eligibility, teams, compute, travel, and what counts as a project.
Catalyst is open to teens ages 13-18 for the global online round. No institutional affiliation, credentials, or hardware of your own are required.
Create your profile, start solo or find teammates, and keep the full story of your project in one place from the first idea to the final demo.