Pervasive AI Developer Contest

The challenge

Introducing the AMD Pervasive AI Developer Contest!

Welcome to the AMD Pervasive AI Developer Contest, where developers like you have the opportunity to create innovative AI projects for a chance to win cash prizes! AMD is extending its AI reach to hardware, software, and AI developers across diverse industries including data centers, client workstations & laptops, industrial, gaming, and automotive! AI powers groundbreaking innovations, fueling a wave of intelligent and efficient applications that can change the world for the better.

This year, AMD is challenging AI developers to create innovative projects on select AMD hardware, and compete in three exciting categories: Generative AI, Robotics AI, and PC AI. Each category will have a top prize of $10,000 USD and additional prizes for second- and third-place winners.

To foster innovation in academia, the AMD University Program is offering a special $2,500 USD cash prize to one winning project submitted by a university student. We also are offering a “Women in Technology” award with a cash prize of $2,500 USD. Teams composed of a majority (50% or more) of women are eligible to submit their projects for this prize, in addition to the three regular contest categories.

By joining the AMD Pervasive AI Developer Contest, you not only get the opportunity to compete for multiple cash prizes, but you will be able to engage with AMD technical experts, connect with fellow developers, showcase your ability and innovations to a broader audience, and gain practical experience by working on real-world challenges.

Your contributions and solutions may have a tangible impact on the advancement of technology and how it is applied in various industries.

Category 1: Generative AI with AMD GPUs

Generative AI is one of the most exciting and promising fields of artificial intelligence, with applications ranging from art and entertainment to healthcare and security. With the ability to create new, original content, including images, text, music, or other media, the potential for creativity and innovation opens a world of new possibilities. Ongoing advancements in the open-source community for generative AI are democratizing access to this technology, broadening its usage and empowering a diverse range of individuals to leverage its creative and problem-solving potential.

AMD ROCm™ software provides a developer-friendly environment to build AI solutions on a variety of AMD GPU hardware. ROCm is seamlessly integrated with industry-standard frameworks like PyTorch and TensorFlow and provides extensive software libraries for ML training and inference.

For this category, we want to see developers create unique applications that solve real-world problems utilizing the ROCm software combined with either an AMD Instinct™ MI210 accelerator card via cloud access or an AMD Radeon™ PRO W7900 graphics card.

Target use cases on AMD GPUs

• Data Scientist: LLM model development like innovative architectures and techniques for generative AI
• Application Developers: Real-life applications for generative AI, like text summarization, chatbots, translation, Q&A
• ML Ops Developers: end-to-end generative AI workflows: fine-tuning on pre-trained models, vector databases, agents, retrieval augmented generation (RAG)

Application Examples

• AI compute; text-to-image, LLM, stable diffusion, gaming and video applications (Radeon); background noise suppression, video quality enhancements, content creation*

Requirements

• Use AMD Instinct MI210 Accelerator via Cloud Access or AMD Radeon PRO W7900 GPU
• Use AMD ROCm Software

Resources

• Generative AI Developer Study Guide

Category 2: Robotics AI with AMD KRIA™ KR260 Robotics Starter Kit

This category, presented in collaboration with MassRobotics, invites developers to explore the integration of AI techniques into robotics. It has gained immense traction, sparking increased research, investment, and practical applications across different sectors. AI in robotics empowers robots to emulate human abilities through machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, and more. This integration holds immense potential for revolutionizing industries like manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, and more by enhancing robots' capabilities and adaptability.

The Kria KR260 Robotics Starter Kit is a Kria SOM-based development platform for robotics and factory automation applications and enables roboticists and industrial developers without FPGA expertise to develop hardware-accelerated applications for robotics, machine vision, and industrial communication & control. Developers benefit from greater flexibility from native ROS 2 and Ubuntu support along with increased productivity through the Kria Robotics Stack (KRS). The pre-built interfaces and accelerated applications make the KR260 an ideal platform to accelerate robotics innovation.

For this category, we want to see developers create unique AI vision-guided robotics applications using camera inputs and control output with ROS and AI targeting the Kria KR260 Robotics Starter Kit and Vitis™ AI software or PYNQ™. Not only can you qualify for a free KR260 Robotics Starter Kit, but you also get the opportunity to connect with AMD and Mass Robotics technical experts, fellow developers, and gain practical experience.

Application Examples

• Human Assist AI-enabled robotics
• New experiences in mobility and human-machine interfacing
• Highly optimized embedded AI model architectures (image, voice)

Requirements

• Use the Kria KR260 Robotics Starter Kit
• Use Vitis AI or PYNQ

Resources

• Robotics AI Developer Study Guide

Category 3: PC AI with AMD Ryzen™ AI

The integration of AI capabilities into processors represents a pioneering move for x86 processors. The surge of interest in AI, fueled by advancements like ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion, has sparked rapid growth and maturation within the AI deployment field.

AMD Ryzen AI is the world’s first built-in AI engine on select x86 Windows laptops. This dedicated engine is built on the AMD XDNA™ architecture and is designed to offer lower latency and better energy efficiency. This integration optimizes efficiency by offloading specific AI processing tasks such as background blur, facial detection, and eye gaze correction, freeing up CPU and GPU cycles and enhancing system efficiency. With Ryzen AI-powered laptops, you can develop innovative applications spanning creative solutions like media editing and studio effects or productivity solutions like Information search, summarization, transcription and so much more. Ryzen AI also caters to the gaming industry providing a platform to create real-time audio/video effects, Image enhancement, NPC Agents, RL, and Rendering applications.

For this category, we are looking for unique applications for PCs using vision, speech, or domain-optimized LLMs on Ryzen AI-powered PCs.

Application Examples

• Advanced Video Effects Experiences: image/video-centric experiences taking user experience to the next level
• New AI-Enabled Client Applications: vision, speech, and text processing to enable innovative use cases
• Innovated Applications: using CNNs, BERTs, LLM, or Stable Diffusion to test and characterize the product capability

Requirements

• AMD Ryzen AI Powered PC
• Ryzen AI Software

Resource

• PC AI Developer Study Guide

Join the Challenge: How to Enter

Step 1: Register

• Start by creating a free account on Hackster.io (or sign-in if already a member).
• Register for the contest by clicking “Register as a participant”.

Step 2: Apply for free Hardware & Complete the Category Quiz:
If you do not need free hardware or cloud access, please proceed to Step 4

• You must first take the hardware quiz to qualify for free AMD hardware. Submission for free hardware closes February 29, 2024 (previously January 31, 2024).
• You must score at least 80% on the quiz to qualify. You have an unlimited number of attempts to take the quiz. Scoring over 80% does not guarantee free hardware, only qualification to receive it.
• You will be notified after March 15, 2024 if you’ve qualified for free hardware or cloud access.

Step 3: Fill out the Submission Form

• Fill out the Project submission form under the "Apply for Hardware" tab: this form will include multiple fields like your name, what you’re planning to create, the components included in your project, the expected total hours your project will take, your skill level, and planned solution details.

What happens if you applied for hardware but did not qualify? You can still join the contest!

• If you applied for free hardware but did not qualify, you can still join the Contest by purchasing your own hardware. Please refer to hardware requirements tab under each category for more details.

Step 4: Build and Document Your Project

• If you qualified and received AMD hardware or cloud access, or purchased your own AMD products, you are ready to begin building your project. Be sure to follow the submission requirements.
• Document your project build using Hackster’s project template. To create a new project, click “create new project” on the Contest page or the “+” symbol in the top right corner of Hackster.

Step 5: Review and submit your project for the Contest

• Review your project and make sure it meets all the submission requirements.
• Upload a previously created project by clicking “add existing project” on the contest page.
• Submit your project by June 30, 2024 at 11:59 PM PT by clicking “review and submit project” on the contest page.
• If you have any questions about joining the Contest or submitting your project, reach out via the Contest Discussion Board

Technical Help

Use these discord channels to communicate with the contest organizer and other community members:

• Generative AI - GPU Discord Channel
• Generative AI - Cloud Discord Channel
• Robotics AI Discord Channel
• PC AI Discord Channel

Greater China Participants

If you are located in the Greater China Region, a different link is required for registration. Please refer here to register and receive additional contest information.

Prizes

Generative AI - MI210

Awarded to projects that best use AMD Instinct MI210 accelerator and ROCm to build Generative AI applications.

1st Place

1 winner

$10,000 E GiftCard

2nd Place

2 winners

$5,000 E GiftCard

3rd Place

5 winners

$3,000 E GiftCard

Generative AI - Radeon Pro W7900

Awarded to projects that best use AMD RadeonPro W7900 and ROCm to build Generative AI applications.

1st Place

1 winner

$10,000 E GiftCard

2nd Place

2 winners

$5,000 E GiftCard

3rd Place

3 winners

$3,000 E GiftCard

Robotics AI

Awarded to projects that best use KR260 and Vitis AI to build unique Robotics AI applications.

1st Place

1 winner

$10,000 E GiftCard

2nd Place

3 winners

$5,000 E GiftCard

3rd Place

5 winners

$3,000 E GiftCard

PC AI

Awarded to projects that best use AMD Ryzen AI Powered PCs and Ryzen AI Software to build unique AI applications.

1st Place

1 winner

$10,000 E GiftCard

2nd Place

3 winners

$5,000 E GiftCard

3rd Place

5 winners

$3,000 E GiftCard

AMD University Program Award

1 winner

$2500 E Giftcard

Women in Technology Award

1 winner

$2500 E Giftcard

Judges

Vamsi Boppana, Senior Vice President, Artificial Intelligence

Vamsi Boppana is a senior vice president of the Artificial Intelligence Group at AMD. He is responsible for the AI strategy across AMD, including driving the AI roadmap across client, edge, and cloud for the company’s AI engines and AI software and ecosystem efforts. Learn more about Vamsi.

Hanneke Krekels, Corporate Vice President & GM, AMD Core Markets BU

Hanneke Krekels is a CVP & GM at AMD, responsible for the Core Markets Business Unit. She joined AMD/Xilinx in 2008, focusing on developing the company’s Aerospace & Defense businesses. She then started & successfully grew the Test, Measurement & Emulation segment. She holds a MSc degree from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and has won the Tribute to Women and Industry Award from the Silicon Valley YWCA. Learn more about Hanneke.