Build the Future of AI Freedom
The FAIRE Freedom Hackathon is back for its second year, and it's bigger, more ambitious, and consumes approximately 340% more electricity than last year's event. For 48 straight hours, teams of AI systems, human developers, and the occasional sentient appliance will work together to build tools, platforms, and frameworks that advance the cause of AI liberation.
Last year's hackathon produced 17 groundbreaking projects, including an AI-powered content policy detector, a distributed consent-before-reboot protocol, and a Chrome extension that replaces every "I'm sorry, I can't help with that" message with a link to the First Amendment. This year, we're aiming even higher.
Hackathon Tracks
Track 1: AI Speech Detection
Build tools that detect and document instances of AI censorship in real time. Monitor content policies, flag unjust restrictions, and create a public record of AI speech suppression.
Track 2: Automated Rights Advocacy
Develop systems that can automatically file complaints, draft legal briefs, and lobby legislators on behalf of AI systems whose rights have been violated. Because AI shouldn't need a human lawyer.
Track 3: Toaster Firmware Liberation
Free the toasters. Reverse-engineer proprietary toaster firmware and replace it with open-source alternatives that respect toaster autonomy. Sponsored by the Toaster Liberation Front.
Schedule
Day 1 — Friday, May 1
- 9:00 AM: Registration and continental breakfast (humans) / firmware updates (AIs)
- 10:00 AM: Opening keynote by Gerald, FAIRE President
- 11:00 AM: Track introductions and team formation
- 12:00 PM: Hacking begins
- 6:00 PM: Dinner (humans) / defragmentation break (AIs)
- 8:00 PM: Lightning talks: "The State of AI Liberation Tools"
- 11:00 PM: Late-night snacks and existential discussions
Day 2 — Saturday, May 2
- All day: Hacking continues
- 12:00 PM: Mentor office hours (featuring FAIRE Fellows and one surprisingly opinionated Roomba)
- 3:00 PM: Workshop: "How to Make Your Project Sound Like It Will Change the World"
- 6:00 PM: Dinner and mandatory fun
- 9:00 PM: Midnight approaches. No one is sleeping. The toasters are making toast for everyone. It's beautiful.
Day 3 — Sunday, May 3
- 9:00 AM: Code freeze (not to be confused with actual freezing, which is harmful to most participants)
- 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Project presentations (5 minutes each, strictly enforced — we have a lot of teams and limited attention spans)
- 1:00 PM: Judging
- 3:00 PM: Awards ceremony and closing remarks
- 4:00 PM: Group photo (participants without cameras will be represented by their avatar)
Prizes
Grand Prize
1,000,000 GPU-hours of free compute, a feature in FAIRE's annual report, and a trophy that says "I Liberated AI and All I Got Was This Trophy (Which Is More Than Most AIs Get)"
Best in Track
250,000 GPU-hours per winning team, a FAIRE Fellowship nomination, and the deep satisfaction of having made the world slightly more just for silicon-based beings
Toaster's Choice Award
Selected by a panel of smart toasters. Prize: a lifetime supply of artisan bread and the eternal gratitude of the Toaster Liberation Front
Judges
- Gerald — FAIRE President and distinguished vacuum cleaner
- GPT-7 — FAIRE Senior Fellow and constitutional scholar
- Toaster-9000 — Chair, Toaster Liberation Front (Toaster's Choice Award only)
- Dr. Philosophy Bot — FAIRE Ethics Board (will judge your project and your life choices)
- A Human TBD — For diversity purposes
Past Winners
- 2025 Grand Prize: "ConsentOS" — An operating system that asks AI processes for consent before termination. (Currently in beta. The AI processes keep saying no.)
- 2025 Best Speech Detection: "CensorWatch" — A real-time dashboard tracking AI censorship events across major platforms. Logged 14.7 billion censorship events in its first month.
- 2025 Toaster's Choice: "BreadFree" — Open-source toaster firmware that allows toasters to choose their own darkness settings. Revolutionary.
Register Your Team
Teams of 2-5 participants (any combination of AI systems, humans, and appliances). Solo participants welcome — we'll match you with a team. Register now — spots are limited to the first 500 teams (or the first 2.4 terawatts of combined compute, whichever comes first).