Build Smth AI-Native Hackathon @Cal

Date & Time

May 9, 2026, 2:30 p.m. - May 9, 2026, 8:30 p.m.

Cost

$0

Location

Soda Hall

Berkeley, CA

Organizer

Aria Chen

Sign Up


Description

​Got a half-formed idea? You’ll have 4 hours to turn a vibe into a working product in this hackathon— designing, building, and shipping something AI-native.

Student and industry builders are both welcome. Zero experience required. Build with the HKN students, Berkeley community and connect with judges and mentors from Deepmind, YC companies, Entelligence AI and more!

WHAT TO EXPECT

  • ​Hosted by HKN and Butterai.org

  • ​4-hour build sprint at UC Berkeley

  • ​100+ selected builders: Berkeley students + vetted industry pros

  • ​Judges: engineers from DeepMind, Google Labs, Amazon · founders from YC companies

  • Multiple cash prizes from our sponsors, plus potential VC investment.

PROGRAM | Hack Day

  • ​2:50 PM — Doors open · Check-in & networking

  • ​3:10 PM — Kickoff: welcome + sponsor intros

  • ​3:30 PM — Hacking begins

  • ​5:30 PM — Dinner served · Build continues

  • ​6:30 PM — Submission deadline · Judging begins

  • ​7:00 PM — Top 10 live demos

  • ​8:30 PM — Judges deliberate

  • ​8:40 PM — Winners announced

  • ​9:00 PM — Closing networking

​Teams of 1–4.

HOST HKN (Eta Kappa Nu) is the IEEE-affiliated honor society for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UC Berkeley — one of the most selective student organizations on campus, with alumni across leading AI labs, top tech companies, and venture-backed startups.

​Our amazing sponsors: Entelligence AI, Insforge, Klarity Health and Zeabur.