The AI Startup Center is excited to host one of the official Hack Apertus onsite hackathons on 27–28 November 2026.
Hack Apertus is a nationwide initiative designed to accelerate the adoption of Apertus, Switzerland’s open, multilingual large language model. Following the online hackathon in October, innovators from across the country will come together in six Swiss cities to transform open AI into practical solutions for real-world challenges.
Bringing the Community Together
The Zurich edition is organized as a collaborative community effort. Together with GirlsCanCode, UZH.ai Student Association, Young AI Leaders Zurich, and Sprintd, we’re bringing together developers, founders, researchers, students, and AI enthusiasts to build, experiment, and collaborate.
As the home of one of Switzerland’s leading AI startup ecosystems, the AI Startup Center provides the ideal environment to connect emerging startups with academia, industry, and the public sector. Hosting Hack Apertus is a natural extension of our mission to foster collaboration and accelerate responsible AI innovation.
From Open Models to Real-World Impact
Hack Apertus is more than a coding competition. Participants will build on the latest Apertus 8B 1.5 model, contribute to its multilingual capabilities, and develop practical AI applications that address real challenges from both the private and public sectors. The initiative follows an open approach, making resulting blueprints and solutions available to the wider community as Open Commons.
Whether you’re an AI developer, founder, researcher or student, the Zurich Hack Apertus event offers a unique opportunity to collaborate with Switzerland’s AI community, explore sovereign AI technologies, and help shape the future of open AI.
Further information, registration details and the event agenda will be shared soon. In the meantime, you can learn more about the initiative and the Zurich edition on the official Hack Apertus website.
