A live simulation running in your browser: San Francisco's slime mould grows from the middle, the world's from the edges.
Signs of Life
San Francisco vs the World.
Ten days to build software that's alive.
Online Nov 13 to 22, 2026 free $1,000 in credits for every builder
The challenge
Build something alive. Start it. Keep your hands off it. Then tell us what it became.
"Alive" is yours to define. A creature that evolves. An ecosystem where prey learns to hide. A town of AI agents that makes up its own customs. A character that grows a personality. A cellular automaton that keeps inventing. Code that rewrites itself inside a sandbox.
Use LLMs, evolution, reinforcement learning, physics or plain rules. Or none of them. Small and strange beats big and polished.
How it works
Register and claim your credits.
Build it, solo or with a team of up to 4.
Release it: start one life and take your hands off.
Observe: let it run, and log what happens.
Report: hand in the repo, LIFE.md and a 2-minute video.
Rules of the world
- Real runs only. Every claim in LIFE.md points to a log.
- Hands off during the recorded life.
- Code that copies or rewrites itself stays in a sandbox.
- You own what you build.
San Francisco vs the World
Every builder plays for the place they live. The San Francisco Bay Area plays as its own nation, and every country on Earth plays against it, the rest of the United States included. The leaderboard is live from day one.
Every big country gets its own team-up thread on X, hosted with someone from that country's builder scene. Go there to talk, ask questions and find teammates. Everyone else meets in the World thread. Jacob and the team answer in every thread.
- Every country gets its own winner. Prize credits go to winners in the countries listed in the rules; everywhere else, the title is yours. Best of your country goes to the top entry from every country with 5 or more entries.
- Best of San Francisco goes to the top Bay Area entry. The World Champion is the best entry anywhere.
Countries unlock rewards as they grow
10 builders
The country gets its own team-up thread on X, if it doesn't have one already.
50 builders
Every builder from that country gets +$250 in credits.
100 builders
That country's Best-of prize doubles.
Team-up threads on X
Threads go up as countries join. Until yours is up, find us on X at @Durable_Intel.
The leaderboard
Live from day one. Every claim counts for the place you live.
San Francisco
the World
Countries
Each bar runs to 100 builders, with unlocks at 10, 50 and 100.
Be the first on the board.
Nobody has claimed yet. The first claim puts a country on the board.
Claim your $1,000Tracks
Every track has a starter kit. You're 10 minutes from your first living run.
Creatures and ecosystems
Evolution, predators and prey, artificial chemistry
Agent societies
AI agents that live together and build a culture
Characters
One persistent being that grows from what happens to it
Wild card
Anything else that's alive
What you hand in
By
A public repo on any host. The README says what it is, how to run it, and which AI tools and models you used for what. Using a lot of AI costs you nothing. Hiding it does.
LIFE.md, the biography of one recorded life. When it was born, what happened, what changed, and how it ended if it did. Every line points to the log that backs it.
A video, 2 minutes max, of it doing the thing. Any language, with English subtitles.
Optional, and it helps
vitals.csv: one row per tick, with the numbers that show it's alive (population, diversity, energy, new behaviours). We plot every entry's vitals side by side.
A control run. Say it learned? Show us the version that couldn't.
How we judge
100 points
It keeps going 25
Over a long run, does it hold together and keep making something new? Or does it stall, loop or fall apart?
It acts on its own 20
Nobody steers it during the recorded life.
It changes 20
It adapts, evolves or learns from what happened to it.
It surprises us 20
It does something you didn't write, and you can show you didn't write it.
We can see it and run it 15
A clear demo, a readable repo, and a judge can run it.
A bigger model or a fancier frontend earns nothing on its own.
Judges
Judges are listed here by full name as they're confirmed.
The Durable Intelligence team judges with guests. Every panel that picks a winner includes at least one judge who is independent of Durable Intelligence and of the entrants. A judge with a conflict of interest sits that entry out.
Prizes
All in Nenya credits.
$50,000
World Champion
The best entry anywhere.
$25,000
Best of San Francisco
The top Bay Area entry.
$10,000
Best of your country
For every country with 5 or more entries. Doubled at 100 builders.
$10,000
Longest life
The longest recorded run that's still doing something new at the end.
$10,000
Most surprising
$10,000
Best death
The best-documented failure. If it died, tell us how.
$10,000
People's Choice
Post your entry on X with #ad #SignsOfLifeHack, tagging @Durable_Intel and @NenyaBizniz. Add the post's link to your submission. The judges pick the winner from the five most-liked posts at Mon Nov 23, 11:59 pm PT.
Values are in Nenya credits. Prizes apply in the US and the countries listed in the rules. Winners give us a tax form and handle their own taxes.
The finalists go to San Francisco's investors.
Jacob Schoenberg, our CEO, introduces the World Champion and every finalist team to San Francisco investors in his network, personally.
Every builder earns credits
$1,000
when you claim them.
+$500
for each builder you bring who claims theirs. They get +$500 too.
+$500
Specimen of the Day: for the most alive thing posted on X each day with #ad #SignsOfLifeHack, tagging @Durable_Intel and @NenyaBizniz.
+$100
Build in public: for each progress post on X with #ad #SignsOfLifeHack, tagging @Durable_Intel and @NenyaBizniz, up to 5.
+$2,500
Captain bonus: bring 20 builders from your country and get +$2,500. The top recruiter in each country is its Country Captain.
Winners
The winners are listed here within 10 business days of the finals on Tue Nov 24.
Schedule
Pacific time. With JavaScript on, the page shows yours.
Now
Register, claim your credits, and find your team in your country's thread on X
Live team match on X Spaces
Kickoff, live on X, for the Americas, Europe, Africa and India
Kickoff, live on X, for Asia and the Pacific
and
andOffice hours on X Spaces
The census. A live look at what's alive so far, on X.
Registration closes
Submissions close
Finals, live on X. Top teams demo and the winners are announced.
Community partners
Run a community of builders? Partner with us on Signs of Life: humans@durableintel.com
Who's hosting
Nenya, from Durable Intelligence.
Nenya is a harness that keeps long-running AI agents reliable, which is why we want to see what you can keep alive. The Durable Intelligence team judges with guests, and every panel includes at least one judge independent of us. Questions: reply to us on X or email humans@durableintel.com.
FAQ
Where does it all happen?
On X. Follow @Durable_Intel, find your team in your country's thread (every thread is linked on the event page), and post your progress on X with #ad #SignsOfLifeHack, tagging @Durable_Intel and @NenyaBizniz (that's what earns the progress credits). Kickoffs, office hours, the census and the finals are all live on our account.
Who can join?
Anyone 18 or older, anywhere, except where the official rules say otherwise. Solo or a team of up to 4.
What does it cost?
Nothing. Every builder gets $1,000 in Nenya credits on top.
What counts as "alive"?
You decide, then you show us. Something that acts on its own, keeps going, changes from what happens to it, and surprises you. It can be a creature, an ecosystem, a society of agents, a character, or something we haven't thought of.
Do I have to use AI?
No. Plain rules, evolution, physics and cellular automata are all welcome. If you do use AI tools, say which ones in your README.
Do I have to use Nenya?
No. The credits are yours to use if you want them. Nenya is our harness for long-running AI agents, so it's useful if your creation runs on agents.
How do I get my credits?
Claim them at durableintel.com/signs-of-life/claim. You get your credits link, your referral link and your share card on the spot.
Where do I play from?
The place you live. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you play for San Francisco. Anywhere else in the US, you play for the United States. A team picks the place where most of its members live.
How long does my creation have to run?
As long as you can make it last. "It keeps going" is the biggest single score, and Longest Life is its own prize. A world that runs a thousand generations in a minute counts too: tell us what happened across those generations.
What if it dies?
That's a result. Write down how it died in LIFE.md. Best Death is a prize.
Can I start before Nov 13?
Find a team, read the starter kits and plan all you like. Build from Nov 13. Libraries, engines, models and assets that already exist are fine; list in your README anything you made before Nov 13. Your commits should show the work happening during the event.
What time is "Anywhere on Earth"?
The last time zone on the planet (UTC−12). If it's still Sunday anywhere on Earth, you're on time. On the West Coast that's Monday Nov 23 at 3:59 am.
My English isn't great. Can I still enter?
Yes. Your video can be in any language with English subtitles. Your README and LIFE.md need to be in English, and plain English is perfect.
Who judges?
The Durable Intelligence team, with guests announced as they join. A judge with a conflict sits that entry out.
What do the finalists get from San Francisco?
Jacob Schoenberg, our CEO, introduces the World Champion and every finalist team to San Francisco investors in his network, plus the credits prizes. The finals stream is live from San Francisco.
Do I owe tax on credits?
The $1,000 builder allowance is a free trial of Nenya. Prizes can be taxable where you live. We award prize credits only in the US and in countries whose tax treaty with the US means no US tax on them (the list is in the rules). Everywhere else you still compete for every title. Before we issue a prize, we ask each winner for a tax form.
Who owns what I build?
You do. You let us show your project name, team names, video and screenshots to promote the event and its results.
More questions?
Ask in your country's thread on X, or email humans@durableintel.com.