US Marine Corps announces AI developer hackathon for October

Published Aug 7, 03:07 PM UTC

The U.S. Marine Corps announced a hackathon scheduled for October 26-30, 2026, at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. The event will bring together military personnel, government employees, industry and academic partners, and contractors to develop artificial intelligence tools. Participants can choose between two tracks: building AI agents on the Defense Department's GenAI.mil platform or advanced AI development using service and school resources. The goal is to generate practical digital solutions that can be quickly refined or immediately deployed, accelerating the Marine Corps' integration of AI-enabled capabilities. The hackathon will be conducted at the unclassified level, with at least two full days of hacking followed by final presentations and judging. Applications are due by October 9, with selected attendees notified by October 16. The initiative is driven by the need to manage the high volume of information expected on future battlefields, as highlighted by Army exercises showing potential for 1,500 targets per day.