quick facts

FORMAT

Hybrid — Global online build + Finale at New Delhi + Opportunity to
Showcase at Bharat Mandapam.

DATE

  • Launch: 20 Nov 2025
  • Registrations: 20 Nov 2025 – 15 Jan 2026
  • Shortlisting Phase: 15–25 Jan 2026
  • Finalists Announcement: 27 Jan 2026
  • Finale: 8–9 Feb 2026
  • Showcase @ Bharat Mandapam during the CyberPeace Summit: 10 Feb 2026

PRIZES & SUPPORT

grants, cloud credits, incubation, and CyberPeace pilots.

WHO SHOULD APPLY

  • University Students and AI researchers.
  • CyberPeace Corps volunteers and innovators.
  • Startups in Trust & Safety, Fintech or Media Tech.
  • Defence & Police Academies for Red-team-blue-team drills. 
Why this matter?
Generative AI can create content at scale — images, video, audio, and text. That capability is a force for good, and a source of new harms: deepfakes, targeted scams, automated disinformation, and model misuse. HackForTrust invites the global community to build practical, deployable tools that protect truth, safeguard citizens, and make AI accountable. This is a hands-on competition: prototypes must be demonstrable and ready for pilot testing.

TRACKS / THEMES

PICK ONE WHEN YOU APPLY

TRACK

01

Detect the Deceptive

Trace, verify, and neutralize synthetic media (images, video, voice, text).

TRACK

02

Defend the Digital Citizen

Build proactive GenAI tools that prevent scams,
educate vulnerable users, and rebuild trust.

TRACK

03

Building the Guardrails of Trustworthy AI

Practical red-teaming, audit, and
real-time governance tools for LLMs.

TRACK

04

Create for Peace

Generative experiences that teach empathy, counter
polarization, and rebuild civic resilience.

TRACK

05

Enhance the CyberPeace Chatbot

Integrate Generative AI, CyberPeace GPT,
and Agentic AI to make CyberPeace’s chatbot an active digital peace agent.

PROBLEM
STATEMENT 1

PROBLEM
STATEMENT 2

PROBLEM
STATEMENT 3

PROBLEM
STATEMENT 4

PROBLEM
STATEMENT 5

01

02

03

04

05

Detect the Deceptive:
Tracing Synthetic Realities

Defend the Digital Citizen: AI for Protection and Empowerment

Building the Guardrails of
Trustworthy AI

Create for Peace: Generative AI for Social Good and Digital Civility

Enhancing the CyberPeace Chatbot with Generative & Agentic AI Capabilities

01

02

03

04

05

PROBLEM STATEMENT

01

Detect the Deceptive: Tracing Synthetic Realities
KNOW MORE

02

Defend the Digital Citizen: AI for Protection and Empowerment
KNOW MORE

03

Building the Guardrails of Trustworthy AI
KNOW MORE

04

Create for Peace: Generative AI for Social Good and Digital Civility
KNOW MORE

05

Enhancing the CyberPeace Chatbot with Generative & Agentic AI Capabilities
KNOW MORE

Evaluation Framework

Criteria
Weight
Innovation & Technical Depth
30%
Trust & Safety Integration
25%
Societal Impact & Usability
20%
Scalability & Localization (Indic languages included)
15%
Presentation, Documentation & Ethics
10%

Process

The panel includes AI researchers, CyberPeace leads, industry partners, policy experts, and civil society.

Ideation Round

  • Submission of concept + flow design
  • Shortlisting of top 50 ideas

Development Round

  • Mentorship + prototype building
  • Submission of working solution or demo video
  • Shortlisting of top 10 finalists

Grand Finale

  • Top 10 finalists pitch to jury
  • Live demo and Q&A session
  • Selection of 3 winners

Timeline

Prize, Pilots

Post Event Paths

Cash prizes, cloud credits, and incubation support.
Fast-track pilots with CyberPeace.
Fellowship
Opportunities.
Showcases at the India AI Impact Summit 2026


Code of Conduct & Safety

Be respectful. No hate or harassment. No building tools intended to harm. All participants must follow the privacy & data rules in the problem pack. Breaches will result in disqualification and removal.

Sponsor Opportunities

Branding
Pilot Pipelines
Early access to finalist tech
Recruitment access
MENTOR / JURY NAME
Designation
MENTOR / JURY NAME
Designation
MENTOR / JURY NAME
Designation
MENTOR / JURY NAME
Designation
MENTOR / JURY NAME
Designation

GOT 

QUESTIONS?

Who can participate?

Anyone globally — students, researchers, startups, NGOs, and early-stage companies. Teams up to 4.

Will participants get API / cloud credits?

Yes — selected teams can apply for partner credits. Details in the problem pack.

Is travel covered for finalists?

Travel support is available for select finalists; details shared during finalist selection.

Can we use proprietary models?

Yes, but you must document license/usage and include safety mitigations. Open-source solutions encouraged for reproducibility.

How do you protect sensitive outputs?

All demo data must be sanitized. We provide secure sandboxes for testing.