The Eigenprize

eigen.build · Compute · 1 record · JSON

The Eigenprize Compute

caveatemailno cardDwrite-gated

eigen.build/winners.html · cloud VM · compute/the-eigenprize · JSON · compare

Free tier	'No-strings-attached prize money for talented builders, scientists, operators', distributed as '1st prize $100,000', '2nd prize $30,000', '3rd prize $20,000', '4th - 23rd $5,000 ea.', totalling '$250,000' across 23 winners. Eligibility is the widest found in this class, quoted: 'Anyone who builds things, discovers things, or does things ... There is no limit on age, interest, location, etc.' The conditions are removed explicitly: 'You can spend the money however you want. We take no equity and have zero expectations.' and 'What do I have to do if I win? Nothing!' The application 'is designed to take 5-10 minutes'. The cycle is complete and paid: the site now reads 'The winners have been selected.' unit minutes; metered on wall-clock; one-time-grant
Price	none stated
Per-object cap	not applicable
Retention	not applicable
Egress	not stated
Identity	email an individual of any age in any country. 'There is no limit on age, interest, location, etc.' The first prize went to Dariia Dantseva, whose project describes running 'a first DIY bio lab during the full-scale invasion', which is a recipient outside the United States and without an institutional affiliation.
Limits	write-gated a one-shot competitive prize decided by three organisers fails first: 23 winners from an unpublished applicant count, in a cycle that closed on 2026-03-31, so there is no open application route today and the odds cannot be computed. source a one-shot competitive prize decided by three organisers fails first: 23 winners from an unpublished applicant count, in a cycle that closed on 2026-03-31, so there is no open application route today and the odds cannot be computed.
Binding	write-gated a one-shot competitive prize decided by three organisers fails first: 23 winners from an unpublished applicant count, in a cycle that closed on 2026-03-31, so there is no open application route today and the odds cannot be computed.
Interface	unknown inferred from the tooling the provider documents; not probed
Tooling	not stated
Composes with	Cash with no spending restriction and no equity, so it composes with every other record: the USD 100,000 first prize is roughly 20 to 100 times the largest compute credit in this corpus and can be spent at spot or marketplace rates the recipient chooses. The USD 5,000 floor for 20 of 23 winners is the part worth planning around, because it is the modal award and it is still five times the typical vendor starter credit.
Reliability	no reliability event recorded
Notes	The best-evidenced award in this class and the one to promote first, because payment is not a claim but a published list of 23 named people with amounts beside them. Two properties make it stronger than the Open Intelligence Foundation offer: the terms name the removals explicitly ('no equity', 'zero expectations', 'nothing' required after winning), and one winner is observably outside the United States and unaffiliated. The failure mode is that the cycle is closed and the programme is three individuals, not an institution: the prize pool is described as money they pooled, the site is a static page, and the winners page closes with 'See you next time' rather than a date. So the finding is a closed cycle worth watching for the next one, not an open door. A recurring cadence is implied by 'See you next time' and by the Duct Tape Prize predecessor, and by a 'Remind me. We'll email you near the deadline' control, but no next-round date was published on any page read today, so treat recurrence as likely rather than promised. Reachability note: eigenprize.build answered through a rendering provider while the origin itself timed out twice, and a mirror at eigen.build served the current content with status 200.
Evidence rung	documented
Checked	2026-10-22 (live); stale on 2026-11-21

Evidence (5)

date	source	what it proved
2026-10-22	eigen.build/winners.html	the winners page names the podium and the field: First Prize 'Dariia Dantseva' at '$100,000', Second Prize 'Armaan Gomes' at '$30,000', Third Prize 'Asterios Arampatzis' at '$20,000', then twenty rows at '$5,000' each (Alex Waldherr, Aubrey Neiderhoffer, Claire Wang, Elizabeth Hudson, Elon Litman, Feodor Yevtushenko, Grant Gao, Houjun Liu, Johannes Galatsanos, Kathy Liu, Lev Chizhov, Lexi Mattick, Liyam Chitayat, Lukas Bongartz, Maxwell Howeth, Preet Patel, Shepherd Kruse, Sofia Scarlat, Soumil Sahjpall, Timo Chang, Zachary Plotkin, Zander Chearavanont); page 200. This is a published list of named recipients, not a testimonial
2026-10-22	eigen.build/	'The winners have been selected.'; the prize table '1st prize $100,000 / 2nd prize $30,000 / 3rd prize $20,000 / 4th - 23rd $5,000 ea. / $250,000'; 'Apply. 5 - 15 mins.'; 'Nominate. $1,000 for successful nominations!'; quoted; page 200
2026-10-22	eigenprize.build/	the programme's own terms, read through a rendering provider because the origin does not answer directly: 'Anyone who builds things, discovers things, or does things. If you are applying as a team, the prize will be shared amongst the group. There is no limit on age, interest, location, etc.'; 'You can spend the money however you want. We take no equity and have zero expectations.'; 'What do I have to do if I win? Nothing!'; 'When we ran the Duct Tape Prize and gave away 50k to builders, we met some remarkable people who did remarkable things with the money. We're scaling it up now', quoted
2026-10-22	nitter.jaydenha.uk/thewildstevenp/status/2032977531557536169	the organiser's own announcement, quoted: 'Official Deadline for Submission is March 31st, 2026!', which dates the closed cycle [re-read 2026-10-22]
2026-10-22	nitter.rdrama.net/thewildstevenp/status/2029602933470306450	the launch post, quoted: 'A 10-minute application for $100,000. A free, no-strings-attached prize for builders, scientists, operators. Introducing the Eigenprize.', which dates the cycle to about four weeks of applications [re-read 2026-10-22]

More fields (1)

{
 "wave2": {
  "class": "independent-grant",
  "free_tier_kind": "one-time-grant",
  "shape": {
   "vcpu": null,
   "ram_gib": null,
   "gpu_class": null,
   "gpu_count": null
  }
 }
}

Unknown or withheld values (9)

$.egress.metered egress-unknown
$.egress.terms not-stated
$.interface interface-unknown
$.per_object_cap.notes process
$.per_object_cap.stated not-applicable
$.reliability_note none-observed
$.retention.notes process
$.retention.stated not-applicable
$.tooling not-stated