🚀 HackAI x webAI: The YOLO26 MLX Build Challenge starts Monday

Hey builders,

We're teaming up with webAI and AITX + Antler to bring you something fun: the YOLO26 MLX Build Challenge — a 7-day sprint to build something cool with webAI's open source, Apple Silicon-native object detection model.

The idea is simple: pick a track, pick a problem, ship a working demo by Sunday, May 24.

Four tracks to build in:

🔧 Useful — Solve a real everyday problem. A posture monitor, a fridge inventory tracker, a "where are my keys" detector.

🏢 Enterprise — Solve a business problem. Foot traffic analysis, defect detection, PPE compliance, warehouse auditing.

🌮 Austin-flavored — Solve something local. Count the line at Franklin BBQ from a webcam. Alert when the H-E-B lot is full. Catch whoever keeps leaving dishes in the sink.

🤪 Wild — Go weird. An alarm clock that only stops when it sees you holding coffee. AI-generated haikus from the objects on your desk. Outfit roasts in real time.

$1,000 per track winner — 4 tracks, 4 winners, $4,000 total in prizes. Plus your build gets featured across webAI's blog and socials. Every submission gets included in the recap post.

Two kickoff events — attend either or both:

📍 Monday, May 18 · 6–8 PM — HackAI at Capital Factory. webAI's ML engineers Mitch DePree and Fatih Altay walk through how YOLO26 MLX was built, followed by open Q&A and roundtable. We'll present the challenge alongside other Austin AI companies, then open hacking and networking time.

📍 Tuesday, May 19 · 5:30–8 PM — AITX at Antler. AITX at Antler. webAI's ML engineers Mitch DePree and Fatih Altay will be back to discuss YOLO26 MLX. It'll be a great opportunity to ask more questions and dive deeper into YOLO MLX.

Both events feed into the same challenge. Same builder pool, same prizes, same deadline.

Key details:

• Build solo or teams up to 3

• YOLO26 MLX itself runs entirely on Apple Silicon (M1–M4) — no cloud, no APIs, no PyTorch at runtime

• AI coding tools encouraged (Cursor, Copilot, Claude — use whatever helps you ship)

• Submit a GitHub repo + 60-second demo video + social post tagged #YOLOMLX

• Submissions due Sunday, May 24 at 11:59 PM PT

• Winners announced May 27

• Open to anyone in the US — you don't need to be in Austin to participate

Get started: Sign up to webAI's community. That's where the full brief, the getting started guide, and the Q&A live. You'll register through a quick form (required for prize eligibility), then submit your build as a reply to the brief topic. Fork the starter template at github.com/thewebAI/yolo-mlx and you'll have a working inference script in under 10 minutes.

We don't get to do a proper hackathon every month. This one's got great co-hosts, real prizes, and a genuinely fun model to build with. Come make something.

See you Monday,

Reid & Bryce, HackAI