Hackathon & Meetup Recap | AITX Newsletter #29

Hello everyone! AITX Team here with more updates this week.

If you’re new here, welcome! 👋 At AITX, we aim to:

• Connect you with like-minded peers passionate about AI.

• Provide a space for sharing ideas and receiving feedback on AI projects you’re building.

• Share helpful tools and invaluable resources.

AITX Hackathon Recap

Where AI Dreams Became Reality

Hey there, AI enthusiasts!

Remember when we said our first-ever Austin AI Community Hackathon would be epic? Well, spoiler alert: it was! We partnered with Austin AI Tinkerers to bring this brainchild to life, and boy, did it deliver.

The Stats

• 50+ local engineers (aka, the real MVPs)

• 1 weekend of coding frenzy

• Countless cups of coffee consumed (we lost count after the first hour)

The Grand Prize Winner

Drumroll, please... 🥁

Riley Patterson and David Kurkov took home the gold with "Pod Nebula." They applied Graph RAG to podcast content using Neo4j, proving that AI can make even your podcast binges smarter!

Other Mind-Blowing Projects

1. dnAI: Who needs a crystal ball when you have AI analyzing your DNA? This project identifies potentially problematic gene sequences and recommends supplements and habits to keep those genes in check. It's like having a fortune teller and a nutritionist rolled into one AI package!

2. VICCI: Our "Best Vision Hack" winner used computer vision and Sindarin (Conversational Speech AI) to create a web navigation experience that's 10x better for the visually impaired. Because the internet should be for everyone, right?

3. NextWorldChamp 2026: A team of UTSA engineering students (shout out to the road-trippers from Houston and San Antonio!) used machine learning to predict the 2026 World Cup winner. Our founder was so impressed, he put $50 on their prediction. Want to know who it is? You'll have to ask him yourself! 😉

The Real MVPs

A massive thank you to our sponsors: Lambda, Google Cloud, and Antler. Without their support, we'd still be coding on abacuses (abaci?).

And let's not forget our judges—Guhan Venguswamy, Dustin Williams, and Brendan Fulcher—who sacrificed their Saturday to geek out with us.

Last but not least, shout out to Achyut Sarma Boggaram from AI Austin Tinkerers who helped plan and organize this event with us over at the AITX team

Stay tuned for our next event. Who knows? You might be the next AI superstar we're writing about!

July Meetup Recap

Galaxy Brain Shep Bryan

Galaxy Brain is an AI company offering a platform that combines AI workflow automation with strategic support to enhance team productivity and innovation.

Their solution features customizable AI playbooks for various business processes, aiming to streamline complex knowledge work across different industries.

The platform emphasizes user-friendly workflow design, collaboration, and seamless integration with existing tools, while also providing governance and compliance features.

Galaxy Brain positions itself as an end-to-end partner for AI-driven transformation, offering services from initial discovery and custom AI engine building to ongoing support and optimization.

With a platform-agnostic approach and expertise in both enterprise and local AI builds, Galaxy Brain aims to help organizations leverage AI effectively to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

Connect with Shep Bryan here.

Sindarin Brian Atwood

Sindarin is a cutting-edge AI company offering a platform for creating highly advanced conversational AI personas.

Their technology boasts ultra-low latency, humanlike turn-taking, and natural speech understanding, allowing for seamless and realistic AI interactions.

The platform can be configured through a no-code interface or via direct coding, providing flexibility for various user needs. Sindarin's API has garnered attention from tech leaders and investors for its impressive capabilities in natural conversation.

With usage-based pricing and enterprise options available, Sindarin aims to revolutionize how businesses interact with their users through AI.

Connect with Brian Atwood here.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Central Machine Works AI Meetup ⚙️ 

• When: Wednesday, July 31 | 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM CST

• Where: Central Machine Works 4824 E Cesar Chavez St · Austin, TX

• What: Join the Novo team at Central Machine Works on Wednesday, July 31st for an AI meetup from 7:30pm - 10pm. We're a new startup in town and want to hear about all of the cool things that you guys are working on. We'll provide free pizza, first come first serve! Look for the Novo sign at one of the tables, we'll also be wearing our Novo shirts.

Artists & the Age of AI: August 2024 Meetup 🖼️ 

• When: Thursday, August 8 | 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM CST

• Where: 701 Brazos St 701 Brazos St · Austin, TX

• What: Connect with other artists, creatives, and technologists and stay updated on the latest developments in the arts and AI-tech space.

Using AI to Improve HIV Treatment: A Reinforcement Learning Approach 💉 

• When: Tuesday, August 6 | 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM CST

• Where: Capital Factory, Voltron Room (1st floor) 701 Brazos Street · Austin, TX

• What: The group typically meets every first Tuesday of each month to discuss research publications. The publications are usually the ones that laid foundation to ML/DL or explore novel promising ideas and are selected by a vote. Participants are expected to read the publications to be able to contribute to discussion and learn from others. This is also a great opportunity to showcase your implementations to get feedback from other experts.

Leverage AI Tools to Predict & Win at the Game of Business Chess ♟️ 

• When: Wednesday, August 7 | 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM CST

• Where: Capital Factory 701 Brazos St · Austin, TX

• What:  Elizabeth Quintanilla will guide you through the transformative power of AI in crafting winning marketing strategies. Learn from successful case studies and understand the practical applications of AI in personalizing customer experiences, optimizing campaigns, and automating communications.

Generative AI: A View from the Lawyers 💼 

• When: Tuesday, August 13 | 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM CST

• Where: Capital Factory 701 Brazos Street Suite 150 · Austin, TX

• What: Generative AI is raising lots of legal and ethical issues that will eventually have to be resolved by the courts. But it is also raising lots of headaches for lawyers and judges, like fake evidence and legal briefs being written by Chat-GPT. The fact that ChatGPT-4 can score higher on bar exams than most lawyers underscores that they are also not immune from being replaced by AI. This talk will cover various legal issues raised by generative AI, and summarizes how lawyers and courts are so far responding.

COMMUNITY STORIES

Texas and Germany: A Match Made in AI Heaven

Governor Abbott recently hosted German Federal Minister Hubertus Heil in Austin, discussing how to strengthen economic ties between Texas and Germany. The focus? AI, energy, and semiconductors - because apparently, everything's bigger in Texas, including international partnerships!

Need-to-know:

• Texas is flexing its muscles as the top dog in semiconductor manufacturing and exports in the U.S.

• Germany is playing favorites: it's the second-highest foreign investor in Texas.

• German companies have poured a whopping $11.97 billion into Texas over the last decade.

• These investments created over 12,800 jobs. (Looks like Germans love Texas almost as much as Texans do!)

• In 2023, Texas-Germany trade hit $18.8 billion, making Germany Texas's ninth-largest trade partner.

• Texas exports to Germany totaled $8 billion in 2023, accounting for 10.4% of all U.S. exports to Germany.

• The duo is eyeing collaboration in AI, energy (especially LNG), and semiconductors.

Learn more here.

From Cattle to Computers: Abilene, Texas Becomes AI's New Frontier

In a plot twist worthy of a sci-fi western, Abilene, Texas, is trading its cowboy boots for computer chips.

Lancium and Crusoe Energy Systems are teaming up to build a massive AI data center just outside this former cattle trail town. It's a $200-million first step in a larger plan that could make Abilene home to one of the world's largest AI computing hubs.

Meanwhile, bitcoin miners across Texas are swapping digital gold for artificial intelligence, proving that in the Lone Star State, even the tech trends are bigger.

Need-to-know:

• The planned 200-megawatt data center is phase one of a 1.2-gigawatt project.

• This facility, set to go live in 2025, aims to use primarily renewable energy sources.

• Bitcoin miners are increasingly pivoting to AI infrastructure, driven by profitability concerns and growing demand for AI computing power.

• The shift to AI has boosted the market value of major U.S.-listed bitcoin miners.

• Experts predict data centers could consume up to 9% of the U.S.'s total electricity by 2030, up from 4% in 2023.

Learn more here.

West Texas A&M Snags $500K to Blend AI with Familia for Hispanic STEM Success

Who says you can't mix family, artificial intelligence, and STEM education? Not West Texas A&M University!

Their research team just scored a cool $500,000 federal grant to do exactly that.

The project aims to boost Hispanic students' success in STEM fields by combining good old-fashioned family support with cutting-edge AI.

Need-to-know:

• The project, led by Dr. Azi Tabei, targets the challenges faced by Hispanic students in STEM, especially women and first-generation college students.

• It emphasizes the role of family support and role models within Hispanic communities.

• The initiative will integrate AI into the curriculum to prepare students for future challenges and opportunities in tech.

• The team believes this approach could transform students from learners into leaders ready to tackle real-world problems.

Learn more here.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHT

Congratulations to Riley Patterson and David Kurkov for winning the Grand Prize with their innovative project, Pod Nebula!

Project Overview

Pod Nebula is an impressive application that leverages Graph RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) technology with Neo4j to enhance podcast content interaction and discovery.

This project showcases the power of combining cutting-edge AI techniques with graph database technology to create novel solutions in the media consumption space.

We're proud to have such innovative thinkers in our community and look forward to seeing how Riley and David continue to push the boundaries of AI application in content management and discovery.