QUANTUM AI HACKATHON 1.0 - AI agents meet qubits, powered by XpyQ

Quantum AI Hackathon AI agents meet frontier compute - powered by XpyQ May 30–31 · Berkeley Gateway HQ · Downtown Berkeley Presented by Berkeley Gateway Accelerator, XpyQ, Oakland Hardware Meetup, and Informal Spaces: PLEASE READ: As a PARTICIPANT, please register via Luma, a follow up survey will be sent. OBSERVERS also welcome! 📌 How to Secure Spot as a Participant requires two steps, both are required to be considered: 1️⃣ Apply on Luma to reserve your seat2️⃣ Fill out the follow up survey, so we can match you to the right track and teamSpots are limited to approx. 10 teams. Apply early. Introduction XpyQ is building the compute cloud for the post-GPU era. As AI moves from prediction to agentic decision-making, builders will need more than commodity infrastructure. They will need access to specialized compute: quantum technology, purpose-built accelerators, and cloud tools that make frontier hardware usable through AI-native software. This hackathon marks the first private developer preview of XpyQ Cloud: an agentic workspace for writing, running, and benchmarking AI, optimization, and quantitative workloads across emerging compute backends. For one weekend, outside builders will get early access to XpyQ Cloud, IBM Quantum credits, XpyQ acceleration endpoints, and classical baselines to beat. The Quantum AI Hackathon is a two-day build sprint for engineers, quant researchers, AI builders, and quantum-curious hackers to prototype real decision systems on frontier compute infrastructure. Teams can build through the XpyQ Cloud chat agent and Python workspace, or use IBM Quantum and XpyQ hardware endpoints directly when they want lower-level control. Both paths are first-class. Use the platform as your daily driver, or treat it as one tool alongside the raw APIs — your call. What you’ll build Four core tracks. Each track will include starter resources, suggested baselines, and access to relevant compute pathways. Track 01 · Trading & Execution Build AI systems that reason about market data, execution, and trading decisions. Teams may explore execution strategies, order book dynamics, market simulation, or agentic trading workflows. Track 02 · Portfolio & Alpha Build systems for portfolio construction, signal generation, forecasting, or asset allocation. Teams may explore optimization, risk-adjusted returns, market signals, or hybrid quantum/classical approaches to investment decision-making. Track 03 · Risk, Fraud & Compliance Build systems that identify, measure, or reduce risk across financial workflows. Teams may explore fraud detection, anomaly detection, tail-risk estimation, transaction graphs, or regulatory workflows. Track 04 · Applied AI & Agentic Systems Build AI systems that retrieve, reason, plan, or act across complex data and workflows. Teams may explore RAG pipelines, AI agents, workflow automation, simulation, time-series analysis, decision support, or domain-specific copilots. Teams are encouraged to compare their approaches against classical baselines wherever possible. The best projects will show clear thinking, honest measurement, and a working prototype — not just a clever idea. Bonus Challenge Areas Teams may also explore adjacent decision workloads such as: Supply chain schedulingEnergy grid and battery dispatchGraph intelligenceScientific or optimization-heavy simulations These bonus areas are especially relevant for builders interested in applying the same compute patterns beyond finance. Format Prep week · Async via Slack, starting May 23 Participants will receive: Primers on market microstructure, quantum basics, and XpyQ CloudEnvironment setup instructionsTrack briefsBaseline notebooksAPI and access details Arrive Saturday with your environment configured and your first baseline ready to run. Saturday, May 30 · 9 AM – 9 PM Doors openOpening keynoteTrack briefingsBuild Block 1Lunch + mentor office hoursBuild Block 2Checkpoint demos at 5:30 PMBuild Block 3Code freeze at 9 PM Sunday, May 31 · 9 AM – 12:30 PM Final submission uploadTeam presentations10-minute demos + 5-minute judge Q&AClosed deliberationScores sealed until the awards dinner Winners will be announced at the formal awards dinner the following Wednesday. Awards 🥇 Grand Prize: $2,000 + awards dinner invite 🥈 Runner-Up: awards dinner invite 🏅 Track Champions ×4: best project per track ⚛️ Quantum Advantage Award: most rigorous demonstration of quantum or hybrid lift over a classical baseline ⚡ Specialized Compute Award: best use of XpyQ acceleration or nontraditional compute infrastructure 🤖 Best Applied AI System: most impactful AI, RAG, or agentic workflow 💡 Most Creative Approach: judges’ discretionary award Who should apply This event is for builders who want to put frontier infrastructure to a real test. We are especially excited to meet: Quant researchersML and AI engineersQuantum or hardware-curious buildersProduct-minded foundersResearchers working on optimization, finance, AI infrastructure, or scientific computing Observers, investors, and sponsors are also welcome. How to participate Spots are limited to approximately 10 teams. To be considered as a participant: Apply on Luma to reserve your seatComplete the follow-up survey so we can match you to the right track and team Teams may apply together or be matched from the accepted pool. Presented by Berkeley Gateway AcceleratorA venture accelerator for frontier capital and deep-tech commercialization, based in Downtown Berkeley. XpyQBuilding the cloud layer for next-generation AI and quantitative workloads across emerging compute backends, including purpose-built acceleration hardware. Oakland Hardware MeetupA hands-on hardware community across the Bay Area. Informal Spaces Flexible venue and community infrastructure for technical events. Prep materials distributed one week prior · IP participation agreement required at registration