Rules:

Lightning Fast AI Hackathon Official Rules

SambaNova Systems, Inc., including its affiliates and other parties engaged to fulfill the administration or promotion of the Hackathon (the “Sponsor”).

1. Dates

The Lightning Fast AI Hackathon (the "Hackathon") will take place from October 7th, 2023, at 9:00 AM Pacific Time to November 7th, 2023, at 5:00 PM Pacific Time (the "Hackathon Period").

2. Eligibility

The Hackathon is open to individuals who are at least 18 years old and are developers, designers, or other individuals with an interest in AI and machine learning (“you” or “Entrant”). Employees of Sponsor, as well as their immediate family members and household members, are not eligible to participate.

3. Project and Submission Requirements

To participate in the Hackathon, you must:

  • Create a project that uses any of the models available on SambaNova Cloud.
  • Ensure that your project is original and does not infringe on the intellectual property rights of any third party.
  • Submit your project through the designated submission portal on the SambaNova Community website (the “Hackathon Website”).  The term “Submission” means anything you submit to the Hackathon via the Hackathon Website, including, but not limited to, the project and any description thereof.
  • With your Submission, provide a detailed description of your project, including its functionality, features, and any relevant technical specifications.
  • Make your project available for judging and testing during the Hackathon Period.

4. Prizes

The following prizes will be awarded to the winning team of the Hackathon:

  • 1st Place: $5,000
  • 2nd Place: $2,500
  • 3rd Place: $1,000
  • Most Liked Submission on the SambaNova Community: $500
  • Multimodal Challenge: $500
  • A chance to win $500 for reposting the announcement on X. The winner must have submitted an application and re-tweeted our announcement post to be eligible. The relevant post is https://x.com/SambaNovaAI/status/1841153603920167260

A panel of judges (the “Judges”) from and/or designated by the Sponsor will evaluate all eligible submissions based on the following criteria:

  • Agentic AI (1-5 points): The extent to which the project innovates with Agentic AI by interacting with users and processing requests.
  • Reusability (1-5 points): The extent to which the project can be reused by the Developer community to build Agentic applications.
  • User Interface (1-5 points): The extent to which the project has a visually appealing interface to make interacting with Agents enticing.
  • X Factor: Additional points given for projects that demonstrate extraordinary use cases not covered in other criteria.

The Judges will select the winners based on the above criteria, and the winners will be notified via email or other means. The Judges' decisions are final and binding.

6. Intellectual Property Rights

All Submissions remain the intellectual property of the individuals or organizations that developed them. By submitting an entry, Entrants agree that the Sponsor and Judges will have a fully paid, non-exclusive license to use such entry for judging the entry. Entrants agree that the Sponsor shall have the right to promote the Submission and use the name, likeness, voice and image of all individuals contributing to a Submission, in any materials promoting or publicizing the Hackathon and its results.  Some Submission components may be displayed to the public. Other Submission materials may be viewed by the Sponsor and judges for screening and evaluation. By submitting an entry or accepting any prize, Entrants represent and warrant that (a) submitted content is not copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless Entrant is the owner of such rights or has permission from their rightful owner to post the content; and (b) the content submitted does not contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware or other disabling devices or harmful or malicious code.

7. Entry Conditions and Release

  1. By entering the Hackathon, you (and, if you are entering on behalf of a team or organization, each participating member) agree(s) to the following:
    • The relationship between you, the Entrant, and the Sponsor, is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship.
    • You will be bound by and comply with these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor and/or the Judges which are binding and final in all matters relating to the Hackathon.
    • You release, indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Sponsor, and their respective parent, subsidiary, and affiliated companies, the Prize suppliers and any other organizations responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising or promoting the Hackathon, and all of their respective past and present officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives (hereafter the “Released Parties”) from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights, property damage, or death or personal injury arising out of or relating to an Entrant’s entry, creation of Submission or entry of a Submission, participation in the Hackathon, acceptance or use or misuse of the Prize (including any travel or activity related thereto) and/or the broadcast, transmission, performance, exploitation or use of the Submission as authorized or licensed by these Official Rules.
  2. Without limiting the foregoing, the Released Parties shall have no liability in connection with:
    1. Any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by the Sponsor or an electronic or printing error, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Hackathon;
    2. Technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines, internet connectivity or electronic transmission errors, or network hardware or software or failure of the Hackathon Website;
    3. Unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Hackathon;
    4. Technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Hackathon or the processing of Submissions; or
    5. Any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from the Entrant’s participation in the Hackathon or receipt or use or misuse of any Prize.

The Released Parties are not responsible for incomplete, late, misdirected, damaged, lost, illegible, or incomprehensible Submissions or for address or email address changes of the Entrants. Proof of sending or submitting the aforementioned will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by the Sponsor. If for any reason any Entrant’s Submission is determined to have not been received or been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, the Entrant’s sole remedy is to request the opportunity to resubmit its Submission. Such a request must be made promptly after the Entrant knows or should have known there was a problem and will be determined at the sole discretion of the Sponsor.

8. Publicity

By participating in the Hackathon, Entrant consents to the promotion and display of the Entrant’s Submission, and to the use of personal information about themselves for promotional purposes, by the Sponsor and third parties acting on their behalf. Such personal information includes, but is not limited to, your name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions, comments and hometown and country of residence. It may be used in any existing or newly created media, worldwide without further payment or consideration or right of review, unless prohibited by law. Authorized use includes but is not limited to advertising and promotional purposes. 

9. General Conditions 

  1. Sponsor reserves the right, in their sole discretion, to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Hackathon, or any part of it, in the event of a technical failure, fraud, or any other factor or event that was not anticipated or is not within their control.
  2. Sponsor reserves the right in their sole discretion to disqualify any individual or Entrant if it finds to be actually or presenting the appearance of tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Hackathon or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in a manner that is inappropriate, unsportsmanlike, not in the best interests of this Hackathon, or a violation of any applicable law or regulation.
  3. Any attempt by any person to undermine the proper conduct of the Hackathon may be a violation of criminal and civil law. Should the Sponsor suspect that such an attempt has been made or is threatened, they reserve the right to take appropriate action including but not limited to requiring an Entrant to cooperate with an investigation and referral to criminal and civil law enforcement authorities.
  4. If there is any discrepancy or inconsistency between the terms and conditions of the Official Rules and disclosures or other statements contained in any Hackathon materials, including but not limited to the Hackathon Submission form, Hackathon Website, or advertising, the terms and conditions of the Official Rules shall prevail.
  5. The terms and conditions of the Official Rules are subject to change at any time, including the rights or obligations of the Entrant and the Sponsor. The Sponsor will post the terms and conditions of the amended Official Rules on the Hackathon Website. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any amendment will become effective at the time specified in the posting of the amended Official Rules or, if no time is specified, the time of posting.
  6. If at any time prior to the deadline, an Entrant or prospective Entrant believes that any term in the Official Rules is or may be ambiguous, they must submit a written request for clarification. 
  7. The Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Should any provision of these Official Rules be or become illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction whose laws or regulations may apply to an Entrant, such illegality or unenforceability shall leave the remainder of these Official Rules, including the Rule affected, to the fullest extent permitted by law, unaffected and valid. The illegal or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a valid and enforceable provision that comes closest and best reflects the Sponsor’s intention in a legal and enforceable manner with respect to the invalid or unenforceable provision.
  8. Excluding Submissions, all intellectual property related to this Hackathon, including but not limited to copyrighted material, trademarks, trade-names, logos, designs, promotional materials, web pages, source codes, drawings, illustrations, slogans and representations are owned or used under license by the Sponsor. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized copying or use of any copyrighted material or intellectual property without the express written consent of its owners is strictly prohibited. Any use in a Submission of Sponsor’s intellectual property shall be solely to the extent provided for in these Official Rules.

10. Limitations of Liability

By entering, all Entrants (including, in the case of a Team or Organization, all participating members) agree to release the Released Parties from any and all liability in connection with the Prizes or Entrant’s participation in the Hackathon. Provided, however, that any liability limitation regarding gross negligence or intentional acts, or events of death or body injury shall not be applicable in jurisdictions where such limitation is not legal.

11. Disputes

  1. Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in this Hackathon, Entrant agrees that:
    1. Any and all disputes and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Hackathon, or any Prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action lawsuit, and exclusively by final and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association and held at the AAA regional office nearest the contestant;
    2. The Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation, enforcement and all proceedings at such arbitration; and
    3. Judgment upon such arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction.
  2. Under no circumstances will Entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and Entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys’ fees, other than contestant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e., costs associated with entering this Hackathon), and Entrant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.
  3. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the Entrant and Sponsor in connection with this Hackathon, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the State of California, USA without regard to California choice of law rules.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

By participating in the Hackathon, you agree to these Official Rules and the terms and conditions of the Hackathon Website.