Gradio's "Build Small" hackathon opens on Hugging Face with $40k+ in prizes; registration closes June 3

Why it matters

Centralizing hackathon submissions on a Hugging Face org reduces friction for AI builders and reviewers, making models and demos easier to discover, test, and share with the community.

Gradio has opened registration for the "Build Small" hackathon on Hugging Face, with the organization page live at huggingface.co/build-small-hackathon. Joining the Hugging Face org is mandatory to participate. Registrations close June 3, 2026.

The event is structured around small-model constraints and a two-weekend build window, with more than $40,000 in cash and hardware prizes. Anchor sponsors and contributions include:

• OpenBMB: $10,000 in special category prizes split across both tracks for standout OpenBMB picks.
• OpenAI: $10,000 in cash prizes, plus $100 in Codex credits for the first 1,000 participants.
• NVIDIA: two RTX 5080 GPUs as physical prizes. Supporting sponsor:
• Cohere: $5,000 cash contribution to the pool. Organizers note more partners are expected.

Two tracks

• Chapter One: Backyard AI. Solve a real problem for someone you actually know. Judged on whether the problem is specific and real, whether the person actually used it, the fit to the small-model constraint, and the polish of the Gradio app.
• Chapter Two: An Adventure in Thousand Token Wood. Build something delightful that would not exist without AI. Judged on genuine delight, whether AI is load-bearing for the experience, originality of concept, and the polish of the Gradio app.

Constraints

• Small models only: total parameters must be <= 32 billion.
• Built on Gradio: the app must be a Gradio app, hosted as a Hugging Face Space.
• Show, don't tell: include a short demo video and a social-media post with the submission.

Bonus quests (optional merit badges that add points)

• Off the Grid: no cloud APIs; local-first.
• Well-Tuned: use a fine-tuned model you have published on Hugging Face.
• Off-Brand: a custom frontend that pushes past the default Gradio look.
• Llama Champion: run your model through the llama.cpp runtime.
• Sharing is Caring: share your agent trace on the Hub.
• Field Notes: write a post or report about what you built and learned.

How to participate

• Register: join the Hugging Face org and register through the app flow linked from the org.
• Find your people: connect via the Gradio Discord and AMAs.
• Build and ship: create a Gradio app and host it as a Space under the org.
• Submit: provide the Space link, a short demo video, and a social post by the deadline.

Timeline

• May 07, 2026: registration opens.
• June 5, 2026: hack window begins (two weekends to build, ship, and demo).
• Mid-window: live AMA with sponsors and the Gradio team.
• June 15, 2026: submissions close.
• Winners: announcement date TBD; per-track winners plus a bonus-quest leaderboard.

The org profile lists a link to gradio.app and uses standard Hugging Face organization features, including a follow button and a request-to-join prompt. Using Hugging Face's Models, Datasets, and Spaces tabs, the hub centralizes entries, assets, and updates for participants, operators, and judges in a format the open-source AI community already uses.