A global hackathon calling on developers, designers, artists, and advocates to build AI that combats human trafficking — built with and for the communities it serves.
Access the June 4 workshop recording, slides, and hackathon guidelines to get ready for the hackathon and start building your AI prototype.
All share the same mission: using AI to combat human trafficking.
Detect, map, or predict trafficking risks before harm occurs.
Trafficking networks operate across digital platforms, financial systems, and global supply chains — leaving patterns that AI can learn to recognize. Yet law enforcement and NGOs are drowning in data they cannot process fast enough. Current detection tools rely on keyword filters and manual review that miss the vast majority of signals.
Build solutions that could…
Support survivors, caseworkers, and frontline organizations.
Survivors face enormous barriers to recovery: fragmented services, language gaps, distrust of institutions, and the constant risk of re-victimization. 80% of survivors are at risk of being trafficked again without sustained support. Frontline organizations — caseworkers, shelter operators, legal aid providers — are under-resourced and overwhelmed.
Build solutions that could…
Help organize evidence, strengthen legal work, and improve accountability.
Trafficking prosecutions remain extremely low compared to the scale of the crime. Evidence is scattered across jurisdictions and formats. Legal processes are slow and under-resourced. Victims are re-traumatized by systems built for institutional convenience, not human protection.
Build solutions that could…
Use AI-assisted storytelling, visualization, or media to move people from awareness to action.
Data alone does not change minds. Stories do. Art does. The most powerful anti-trafficking campaigns made the invisible visible — through film, photography, data visualization, and human narrative.
Create work that could…
Not sure? Pick the one that best describes your primary focus. Art Against Trafficking is available across all tracks.
There are no restrictions on AI approach. Past hackathons have produced winning solutions using NLP, computer vision, agentic systems, and techniques the organizers never anticipated. Whether you work with foundation models, RAG, multimodal systems, speech AI, knowledge graphs, reinforcement learning, or something entirely new, build what the problem demands.
If you have no technical background and want to build entirely with vibe coding and prompting, you are absolutely welcome to participate too.
This hackathon asks you to build tools, not conduct operations. All solutions must use publicly available, synthetic, or simulated data. Do not engage with live trafficking networks, scrape active criminal platforms, or contact suspected traffickers. Your prototype demonstrates what trained professionals could deploy — not what you do during the hackathon.
Everything from the June 4 "From Idea to AI Prototype Without Coding" workshop, plus the hackathon guidelines to take you from idea to submission.
Watch or rewatch the workshop, "From Idea to AI Prototype Without Coding."
Watch RecordingReview the workshop slides, including the problem overview, AI use cases, and prototype-building steps.
View SlidesRead the workshop guidelines, including key topics covered, tools introduced, and next steps for building your hackathon prototype.
View GuidelinesThree months. Four phases. One mission.
Sign up on the platform.
Submissions open.
Meet the panel.
11:59 PM CT.
Code, originality & ethics rubric.
Impact, feasibility & survivor-centered design.
Privately, ahead of the ceremony.
In-person at Capital Factory, Austin. Recording sent to winners who can't attend.
We will recognize outstanding teams through cash prizes, official Austin AI Hub Certificates of Recognition, public recognition, and post-hackathon incubation support.
The top five teams will be invited into the 6-month AI Hub Incubator, where they will receive mentorship, milestone-based support, and a pathway toward pilot deployment with partner organizations.
1st Place — Grand Prize $1,250
2nd Place $750
3rd Place $500
All three top teams also receive an Austin AI Hub Certificate of Recognition and entry into the 6-month AI Hub Incubator.
4th and 5th Place — Incubator Selection. Two additional standout teams enter the Incubator alongside the top three, with certificates and public recognition.
Alongside the ranked placements, two special awards honor achievement that a technical rubric alone cannot capture. Each is presented at the discretion of the judging and organizing committee.
Presented to the strongest work in the Art Against Trafficking track, judged under a dedicated art rubric on emotional impact, craft, and fidelity to survivor experience.
Award certificate and public recognition at the ceremony and across Austin AI Hub channels.
Honoring a builder whose lived experience shapes their solution, recognizing extraordinary courage in transforming personal experience into protection for others.
Judged on impact and authenticity. Award certificate and public recognition at the ceremony and across Austin AI Hub channels.
The top three teams will be announced and formally recognized during the Awards Ceremony on July 30, 2026 at Capital Factory in Austin, Texas. Prize funds will be distributed electronically following the event.
Winners located outside the U.S. will receive their award as a digital certificate. Any physical award items are shipped to U.S. addresses only.
All teams that advance to Panel Judging will receive Finalist Recognition across Austin AI Hub channels and may be included in the post-event impact report.
Five steps from idea to impact.
Sign up on the hackathon platform. Every team member registers individually.
4 weeks. Any language, framework, or AI platform. No required tech stack.
Submit your project before the deadline. See requirements in the Guidelines.
Top teams join the AI Hub Incubator — a 6-month mentorship program.
A thoughtful, well-scoped idea that works beats an ambitious concept that doesn't.
Leaders from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Chief, Innovation & Analytics Hub
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Anwar Mahfoudh leads the Innovation & Analytics Hub at UN Human Rights in Geneva, with over two decades advising senior UN leaders on harnessing data and technology to advance human rights and the Global Goals.
Program Management Officer, Innovation & Analytics Hub
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Amy Shelver leads rights-respecting AI innovation at UN Human Rights' Innovation and Analytics Hub, with two decades shaping global narratives on technology, human rights, and the creative economy across the UN system.
Human Rights Officer
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Clara Pascual de Vargas is a Human Rights Officer at UN Human Rights in Geneva, supporting the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons with a focus on exploitation in business operations and supply chains.
Google Fi Wireless & Google Store CTO
Farhang Kassaei is VP Engineering and CTO of Google Fi Wireless and the Google Store at Google. He previously served as CTO and COO of Wish, and as Chief Architect of eBay Marketplaces, bringing over two decades of experience building consumer commerce platforms at global scale.
President, redM · CTO & CMO, NOV
redM / NOV
David Reid is President of redM, a pro bono movement of over 4,000 professional volunteers helping women recover from the trauma of sex trafficking. He also serves as CTO and CMO of NOV.
VP of AI Product · ex-Meta · ex-Google
SandboxAQ
Ali Khodaei, PhD is VP of AI Product at SandboxAQ. He previously led Gemini modeling teams at Google DeepMind and shaped responsible AI work at Meta and Google Research, with a PhD in computer science and deep expertise at the intersection of AI capability and safety.
Program Director
Magdalene House of Austin
Giselle is Program Director at Magdalene House of Austin, where she leads trauma-informed support and coordinated services for survivors of sex trafficking. A dedicated social worker, she brings deep expertise in case management, crisis intervention, and the social determinants of health, with a practice grounded in cultural humility and person-centered care.
Chief Growth Officer
Allies Against Slavery
Becky Austen leads the national expansion of Allies Against Slavery's anti-trafficking data and software portfolio, including Lighthouse, a platform built to identify signs of exploitation and surface insight from human trafficking data.
Staff ML Engineer
Meta
Masoud Tavazoei is a Staff ML Engineer at Meta, where he leads foundational ML work spanning content integrity, generative AI, and large-scale recommendations. He architected Meta's foundational Integrity LLM standard adopted across product organizations for global trust and safety, and pioneered Meta's first contextual bandit system for ad delivery. Stanford-trained, with nearly a decade at Meta applying ML at planetary scale.
Founding Executive Director of Magenta Girls Initiative
Jennifer Montgomery is a visual artist, writer, and global human rights advocate. A Rotary International Peace Fellow and co-founder of the Magenta Girls Initiative in Kampala, Uganda, she brings over 20 years of experience in public policy, anti-trafficking education, and survivor-centered advocacy.
Help evaluate hackathon submissions. Technical review: July 14–18, 2026. Panel review: July 18–27, 2026.
Judge applications are closed.
Existing judges, sign in below.
Every project is reviewed against a unified published rubric. All 4 tracks are scored against the same merit criteria. Art submissions are evaluated on creative impact and effectiveness as their version of "technical execution".
Each criterion is scored on a 1–5 scale. Weights total 100%.
A separate rubric reflects the creative nature of this category.
Stage 1 (July 14–18): every valid submission is reviewed against the technical and ethics rubric. Top shortlisted projects advance to Stage 2 (July 18–27), evaluated by a panel of judges from AI, anti-trafficking, and policy backgrounds.
No — you can compete solo or in a team of up to five. You can also register as "looking for teammates" and we'll help connect you via Discord.
Only one submission per team. Individuals can only be listed on a single team.
No. Designers, researchers, policy experts, artists, and advocates are all welcome — especially in Assist & Amplify and Art Against Trafficking.
You can research and ideate anytime. Implementation must happen between June 11 and July 14 (deadline extended from July 9).
Yes — you can build and submit your project from anywhere. The Awards Ceremony on July 30 is in-person at Capital Factory in Austin, Texas; winners who can't attend receive a recording of the ceremony afterward.
Yes. You may use any language, framework, or AI platform. Follow the ethical use guidelines in the rules document.
No — participation is free.
Two stages. Stage 1 is a technical review of every valid submission (July 14–18). The top shortlisted projects advance to stage 2 panel judging (July 18–27) with judges from AI, anti-trafficking, and policy backgrounds.
Three. We name 3 Top Winners total, selected as the strongest projects across all four tracks. The top 5 teams (the 3 winners plus 2 more standout teams) advance to the 6-month AI Hub Incubator.
A cash prize ($1,250 / $750 / $500 for 1st / 2nd / 3rd), an Austin AI Hub Certificate of Recognition, and entry into the 6-month AI Hub Incubator. Winners are announced at the Awards Ceremony on July 30, 2026 at Capital Factory in Austin, Texas; prize funds are distributed electronically following the event. Winners located outside the U.S. receive their award as a digital certificate; physical award items ship to U.S. addresses only.
A 6-month structured program for the top 5 teams. It includes a dedicated curriculum, mentors recruited for your project, milestone-based check-ins, and a pilot deployment pathway with NGO partners. Each team also gets a published case study of their solution.
No. The tracks help organize submissions and let judges with relevant expertise evaluate your work, but winners are selected on overall merit across all tracks.
Yes. Tracks are flexible until you submit on July 30. Pick the one that best fits what you end up building.
Every team that advances to Panel Judging receives public Finalist Recognition you can use in your portfolio and outreach. You also stay part of the Austin AI Hub community for future programming.
Join the Discord and tell us what you're good at. Lots of people are looking for collaborators.
We follow UN Do No Harm principles. All participants, judges, and reviewers agree to our Code of Conduct, which prohibits harassment, discrimination, and intimidation.
Read the Code of ConductReports are confidential. Email team@austinaihub.org or use the Discord #report channel.
Violations can be reported confidentially at any time during or after the hackathon.
Important: This hackathon is not a reporting or emergency response service. If you or someone you know may be in immediate danger or trafficking risk, please contact local emergency services or a national trafficking hotline (in the U.S., the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888).