OpenCV AI Competition 2026, powered by AWS

About The Competition• Competition launch, registration, and proposal submission—runs August 12- 2026; proposals are accepted starting August 13.• 50 teams will be selected to receive a cloud compute grant valued at $150. All other teams, including those that submit the cloud compute grant proposal remain eligible to continue to the two-month build phase.Apply for your grant here.• Final projects are due October 26, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.• Every entry must use OpenCV 5 for substantive image or video analysis and run a meaningful component on AWS.• Two optional featured paths offer separate $1,000 awards: the Best Use of COOL Award and the Agentic Vision Award.Sponsor: Amazon Web Services (“Amazon” or “Sponsor”)Administrator: OpenCV Foundation (OpenCV or Administrator, and together with Amazon, the “organizers”)Join, Build, and WinTurn an ambitious idea into a working vision application, demonstrate measurable value, and share it with the global OpenCV community.The competition emphasizes Physical AI and Generative AI systems in which visual understanding drives useful decisions, actions, predictions, or interactions. Entries may pursue either featured path below, combine both, or take another approach and remain fully eligible to win a prize..Projects may use any programming language or supporting hardware, provided they meet the core OpenCV 5 and AWS requirements on this page.Build Phase — Two MonthsFrom August 26 through October 26, all teams that submitted the required proposal will build, evaluate, document, and submit their final projects.• Teams are encouraged to join the official Slack channel to collaborate with others, and to use the #OpenCVComp26 hashtag on social media to share progress and milestones.• Teams who received a cloud compute grant must complete one 30-minute Zoom check-in with an organizing committee member during September 21–October 2 to receive the other 50% of their grant.• Teams must maintain active development and provide a concise progress update at the check-in.• Final submissions are due on October 26 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.Final Judging and WinnersFinal judging will take place from October 27 through November 9. Winners are scheduled to be announced on November 10 during an OpenCV Live! webinar or another announced OpenCV channel.What AWS Grant Proposals Must IncludeEach proposal must include:A team nameA clear problem statement and intended real-world impact.The planned OpenCV 5 image or video analysis.The planned AWS architecture and services.A high-level architecture diagram or technical description.The target users or beneficiaries.The proposed evaluation method and judge demonstration.Whether the team intends to pursue the COOL path, the Agentic Vision path, both, or neither.Team Bio: A short team bio of all team members and their participation in any hackathons or competitions. Team strength will be used to judge the recipients of the cloud compute grant.Apply For an AWS Compute Grant HereFree AWS Credits for New MembersNew AWS customers are eligible to receive $100 inAWS Free Tier creditswhen they sign up for a Free Plan account and may earn up to $100 more through eligible activities. Teams may use these credits for eligible AWS services in this competition, subject to currentAWS Free Tier terms, service availability, and expiration rules. Use of the Free Tier Credits is subject to theAWS Promotional Credit Terms & Conditions. AWS Promotional Credits are not redeemable for cash and can only be applied to AWS Services.