Oct 19, 2025

AI generates a trivia question. Race to answer in one word faster than AI models. An online game which tests how humans fare against AI models, a video generator that makes corporate training feel more like Netflix, and an art generator that turns random scribbles into brushstrokes. These were the winning projects in a 24-hour hackathon, which challenged more than 400 participants to come up with anything they wanted using artificial intelligence. The Cursor Hackathon ran from 9am on Oct 18 at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) campus. It is the first time that big AI firms such as Cursor, OpenAI, DeepMind, Anthropic and Supabase have come together in one place. Participants were aged 13 to 62, and ranged from teenagers to engineers and startup founders. The top prize went to principal product manager Sritam Patnaik, who built an AI art generator that turns scribbles into digital art. He received over USD$43,000 in credits with AI firms, as well as three months of AI tools Manus Pro and ElevenLabs Pro. Final-year SMU undergraduate Brian Chew came in second with his web game canyoubeatgroq.com, which pits humans against AI in logic, math, and word puzzles. The third prize went to the creators of Neuroflix, a video generator that allows users to make engaging compliance training videos with employees as the stars. The team comprised Mr Justin Baird, 50, co-founder of a carbon company tackling climate change; Mr Antoine Lee, 19, founder of a personalised learning platform for high school exams; and Ms Sharon Li, 35, cofounder of an insurtech company that serves as the Chief Wellbeing Officer for organisations. They told The Straits Times that Mr Baird and Ms Li had both experienced how dull compliance training questionnaires can be within corporations. The only exception was one series where employees were the stars of the episodes. “People were actually excited for the next module,” they said. The trio aim to develop Neuroflix into a full company. The Cursor Hackathon was organised on a voluntary basis by five founders and operators from Singapore startups. The Cursor Hackathon was organised by (from left) Mr Ivan Leo, Ms Sherry Jiang, Ms Rachael De Foe and Mr Agrim Singh. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR One of the organisers, startup founder Agrim Singh, said: “It’s the first time you’ll see all these AI leaders in one place - even in the US, that never happens. They’re showing up in person to teach, guide, and champion new talent, not just sending logos. Among the youngest participants was 13-year-old Usman Asif, who took part along with his father, Mr Asif Saleem, 45, and his 18-year-old sister, Shanzey Asif. Usman worked on a tool that can provide sports coaching, while his sister developed a site to provide information on the best times and locations to view planets and other celestial bodies in Singapore. Noting that his daughter would soon be heading off to university, Mr Asif worked on a website called College Leap. It allows students to upload their report cards and get recommendations on what universities they can apply to based on parameters such as countries and regions as well as preferred courses of studies. Mr Asif, who works in financial services at Google, told ST that while he has some tech experience, he was previously largely unfamiliar with coding, as were his two children. However, they were able to quickly pick it up via courses on artificial intelligence coding tools, which allow for code generation and debugging via written prompts. “It’s a great family bonding activity,” he said. More on this topic