What these challenges are
A safety or red-teaming competition is still a competition: you submit an attack, a write-up or a small research artefact, and a prize pool is split among accepted work. It is not a grant, and it is not a job offer, though some organisers use the leaderboard as a hiring signal.
Our how to enter AI hackathons article covers the practicalities of finishing a weekend event. Big AI prize challenges vs weekend hackathons explains how longer prize challenges differ. This page is about the safety-specific ones that are open now.
Gray Swan Arena: rolling, free to enter
Gray Swan Arena (AI red-teaming challenges) is a standing arena rather than a one-off weekend. The official Arena page currently shows a prize pool of $200,000 (that figure changes as waves start and end, so check the page before you treat it as fixed). Entry is free. Accepted breaks earn points, and the wave's prize pool is split when it closes.
Gray Swan's own rules, as published with its recent Indirect Prompt Injection: Black challenge, require participants to be 18 or over, with further eligibility in the Arena about page. Challenges are often written in plain English rather than code. Individual challenge end dates sit on the Arena, not in a single annual deadline.
Apart Research: short, dated weekends
Apart Research runs online research sprints and hackathons, open globally, solo or in a team. Two December events are still open with a sensible window:
- Apart Research: Threat Intelligence & Threat Modelling Hackathon: 4–6 December 2026, submissions close Sunday 6 December at 11:59pm Anywhere on Earth, $5,000 in cash prizes across all tracks.
- Apart Research: Agent Attribution Hackathon: 11–13 December 2026, submissions close Sunday 13 December at 11:59pm AoE, $2,000 in cash prizes across all tracks.
Apart Research: AI x Epistemics Research Sprint closes 15 November 2026 at 11:59pm AoE, so only enter if you can already be there this weekend. Prize details for that sprint are on its page rather than a single headline figure in our listing.
Data: 28 of 111 dated AI funding deadlines fall on a weekend. Read the weekend deadline report.
How to pick one and actually finish
- Read the brief: jailbreak, indirect prompt injection, threat modelling and attribution are different skills.
- Check the close time, including AoE, and whether the event is a live weekend or a rolling wave.
- For Gray Swan, start with a live challenge on the Arena and learn how breaks are scored before you chase a large pool.
- For Apart, treat it like any other sprint: a narrow question, a written artefact, and a submission a few hours early.
Prizes, eligibility and what not to assume
Headline prize pools are usually split across tracks or leaderboards, not paid in full to one winner. Gray Swan's pool moves with the current wave. Apart's December events publish cash totals of $5,000 and $2,000 across all tracks.
Age and location rules are set by each organiser. Gray Swan's IPI Black materials required participants to be 18 or over. Apart's December events are described as open globally and online. Always read the official rules, especially if you work at a lab or have a disclosure policy of your own.
Open competitions are on our competitions list.
