GSA announces AI-themed hackathon
The General Services Administration is inviting the public to participate in a challenge to reimagine federal websites with artificial intelligence and cloud tools.
This AI-themed hackathon, which is co-sponsored by OpenAI and Microsoft, will offer participants access to large language models, technologies to write code, features to increase the consistency of AI-made responses and more.
The event, scheduled for July 31 in Washington, D.C., Atlanta and New York City, is meant to address what federal websites should do to meet a future in which Americans “will rely on generative AI tools to find information and access services,” the GSA stated in a blog post. Additionally, the agency said there’s a pool of $10,000 in prize money for winning participants and teams.
GSA Chief AI and Data Officer Zach Whitman said in the post that the “hackathon is focused on helping us optimize our services for the American people as they use these AI tools more, in the same way earlier technologies helped us evolve. GSA is always looking to use new tools to deliver more effectively for the American people — and we’re now looking to do the same using AI.”
In April, GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan said during AIScoop’s AITalks event that the agency is operating seven different sandbox environments and teased upcoming AI applications. Later that month, and in compliance with the White House’s October executive order, the agency released a resource guide for federal purchasers looking to procure generative AI-solutions and related infrastructure.
The GSA last week published a framework to outline priorities for emerging technologies, with a focus on generative AI as part of its FedRAMP cloud authorization process.
