Researchers, students and technology professionals across Africa, Asia and Latin America are being invited to join a new international AI safety hackathon aimed at widening participation in global artificial intelligence governance.
- Researchers, students and technology professionals across Africa, Asia and Latin America are being invited to join a new international AI...
- The Global South AI Safety Hackathon, launched by Apart Research with support from Schmidt Sciences, is now accepting applications with...
- Participants will work in regional teams rather than competing on a single global leaderboard.
- In Latin America, participating cities include São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Mérida, Guadalajara and Santa Cruz.
Keep reading for the full breakdown on AI Governance — everything you need to know is covered below.
The Global South AI Safety Hackathon, launched by Apart Research with support from Schmidt Sciences, is now accepting applications with 21 days left before the registration deadline. Organisers say the initiative seeks to address the concentration of AI safety research in a handful of countries while amplifying voices from under-represented regions.
Expanding AI Research Beyond Traditional Centres
The hackathon will bring together engineers, policy experts, researchers, software developers and students to collaborate on projects tackling AI safety and governance challenges affecting the Global South.
Participants will work in regional teams rather than competing on a single global leaderboard. According to organisers, this approach allows researchers to focus on local realities, including language diversity, infrastructure limitations and varying regulatory systems.
The organisers argue that many existing AI safety frameworks fail to reflect the experiences of countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. They point to concerns such as algorithmic bias, weak performance of AI systems in low-resource languages and limited local regulatory capacity as issues requiring deeper regional expertise.
Regional Hubs Across Three Continents
The programme includes multiple regional hubs spread across three continents. In Latin America, participating cities include São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Mérida, Guadalajara and Santa Cruz. African hubs include Cape Town, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, while Asian participation will feature cities such as Bengaluru, Shanghai, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Organisers say the Latin America track alone will offer prizes worth about 3,000 US dollars. Teams are expected to develop policy research, evaluation tools and technical solutions linked to AI fairness, governance frameworks and emerging legislation.
The event is open to machine learning engineers, AI safety researchers, governance analysts, security researchers, students and early-career professionals interested in AI-related issues affecting developing regions.
Fellowship Opportunities for Top Participants
Beyond the competition itself, organisers say high-performing participants could gain access to future fellowship and research opportunities through Apart Research programmes. Winning projects will be reviewed by judges from academia, industry and policy institutions.
The hackathon also reflects growing international efforts to include more voices from the Global South in conversations shaping the future of artificial intelligence. Recent studies on hackathons have shown that collaborative coding events often produce research tools and software that continue to influence future projects long after competitions end.
Applications for the Global South AI Safety Hackathon remain open online through the official registration portal.