AI Institutet has joined FirstBlock-athon as an ecosystem partner. It is an independent non-profit working to strengthen Sweden's AI capability, bringing together universities, industry, entrepreneurs and the public sector around research, education and responsible use.

Research inside a hackathon

Participants will get access to the organisation's research while building. That is an unusual arrangement for a hackathon, where teams normally work from whatever they already know.

The distance between a research result and something a team can use in 48 hours is the interesting part. Most of what comes out of AI research is not in a form that can be picked up and applied at speed, which is exactly the gap a partnership like this is meant to close.

A stated position on responsibility

AI Institutet describes its work as championing AI that is ethical, responsible and socially useful. That places a specific demand on the teams: not only whether something works, but whether it should be built the way they built it.

FirstBlock-athon runs 7–11 September in Stockholm as part of Nordic Tech Week 2026. Applications are open.

More on what's built on the blockchain beyond finance in Onchain Build.