We bring together hundreds of high school students from across the Bay Area to work together and make their ideas a reality.
We'll provide the food, refreshments and hacking spaces for you—the hackers—to do your magic. Just bring your ideas and your passion!
Los Altos Hacks IX will take place at the Juniper Aspiration Dome in Sunnyvale, California on April 5-6, 2025.
All high schoolers are welcome to our ninth year — and it'll be our best yet! With over 350 participants, we'll be having a blast while learning many valuable coding skills along the way. No coding experience is required; there's a place for everyone at our hackathon!
As always, Los Altos Hacks will be 100% free, including prizes, four free meals, swag, mentorship, and much more!
For more information and to sign up, visit losaltoshacks.com. See you on April 5-6th!
Requirements
What to Build:
Anything!
You Must:
Select which sponsor prize(s) you are applying for
Specify if anyone on your team is a beginner
Prizes
1st Place
$1000 in cash
3D Printer for each team member
$2400 of Vercel credits
2nd Place
$500 in cash
Dell 27-inch 180hz Gaming Monitor for each team member
$2400 of Vercel credits
3rd Place
$250 in cash
Apple Airpods 4 for each team member
$2400 of Vercel credits
Most Technically Complex Presented by Drop
2x Drop CSTM80 Keyboard, Linear Switches
2x Drop Desk Mat
$2400 of Vercel credits
Best Beginner Hack
Raspberry Pi 5 for each team member
$2400 of Vercel credits
Best UI/UX
1080p Portable Projector for each team member
$2400 of Vercel credits
Best Mental Health Hack
MX Master 3S Mouse for each team member
$2400 of Vercel credits
Best Solo Hack — Presented by Framework
Framework 13 with AMD's Ryzen™ AI 300 Series Processor
$600 of Vercel credits
Best Fun Hack
Beats Pill Bluetooth Speaker for each team member
$2400 of Vercel credits
Best Use of Palantir AIP
Palantir Startup Solution Design — Work for a month with a Palantir engineer to develop your AIP product
Palantir Palo Alto office tour and demo of “Palantir at the Edge”
$500 in cash
[MLH] Best Use of Gen AI || Assorted Prizes
Generative AI is rapidly changing the landscape of software development. This category challenges you to build novel applications that leverage the power of Generative AI APIs. Think outside the box and integrate cutting-edge AI models to create innovative solutions with real-world impact.
To participate, utilize publicly available Generative AI APIs (like those from OpenAI, Anthropic, Hugging Face, Llama, IBM Watson, or Google Gemini) to develop a unique and functional application. This could include:
AI-powered creative tools: Design an app that allows users to generate unique marketing copy, translate languages in real-time, or create personalized learning experiences.
Intelligent assistants and automation: Build a chatbot that can provide insightful customer support, or a system that automates complex tasks using natural language processing.
Next-generation content creation platforms: Develop a platform that empowers users to generate high-quality images, write different kinds of creative text formats, or compose original music with AI assistance.
This is your chance to get hands on with cutting edge tech, put your skills on display, and of course, win some awesome prizes!
[MLH] Best Use of MongoDB Atlas || M5GO IoT Starter Kit
MongoDB Atlas takes the leading modern database and makes it accessible in the cloud! Get started with a $50 credit for students or sign up for the Atlas free forever tier (no credit card required). Along with a suite of services and functionalities, you'll have everything you need to manage all of your data, and you can get a headstart with free resources from MongoDB University! Build a hack using MongoDB Atlas for a chance to win a M5GO IoT Starter Kit for you and each member of your team.
[MLH] Best Domain Name from GoDaddy Registry || Digital Gift Card
GoDaddy Registry is giving you everything you need to be the best hacker no matter where you are. Register your domain name with GoDaddy Registry for a chance to win some amazing prizes!
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
Gourav Nagar
BILL
Prabhjeev Sethi
BILL
Komal Amte
BILL
Adam Williams
Magicloops
Jay Sahnan
Ion Design (YC W24)
Kai Jarmon
Vercel
Sai Sahiti Nemalikanti
Amazon
Soham Mehta
Meta
Dileep Pandey
GoDaddy
Neha Surendranath
LinkedIn
Ashly Joseph
CISCO
Akash Sahoo
Samsung
Ebaad Ur Rehman
buildclub.ai
Samarth Kalra
Mint Mobile
Akriti Keswani
Airbyte
Shreya Sharma
Meta
Hemant Burman
Walmart
Judging Criteria
-
Originality
Is the hack novel and inventive? Does it take a fresh approach to a real problem? Is it original and unique? -
Technical Difficulty
Is the hack technically interesting or difficult? Is it just some lipstick on an API, or were there real technical challenges to surmount? -
Polish
Is the hack usable in its current state? Is the user experience smooth? Does everything appear to work? Is it well designed? -
Real World Impact
Is the hack practical? Is it something people would actually use? Does it solve a real problem?
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
Tell your friends
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.