How can we build trustworthy open-source multi-agent AI?
Problem AI is rapidly shifting from Generative to Agentic, and soon to Physical Intelligence. Today’s systems are mostly proprietary, built by a handful of large companies, leaving little room for openness, trust, or (self-)sovereignty. Without open and reliable alternatives, researchers, entrepreneurs, and public institutions risk dependency. What is missing are multi-agent systems that are not only powerful, but also trustworthy and accessible for broad use.
Objective The problem statement is deliberately open to encourage creativity. We see several possible directions:
- Build a multi-agent prototype that addresses a tangible challenge such as breaking language barriers, boosting digital productivity, enabling climate solutions, or supporting public services.
- Showcase autonomy, reasoning, and reliability — the kind of quality one expects from Swiss engineering.
- Use open-source models and frameworks as the foundation.
- Demonstrate how trustworthy AI can be developed and shared openly, by hackers and academics — not only large corporations.
Support for Hackers
- API access of the Open-Source Swiss LLM
- Technical and business mentors from ETH AI Center & ETH EC Colosseum available on-site.
Technical Preferences
- Preferably build on open-source models and libraries (weights + data).
- Systems should demonstrate multi-agent autonomy, chaining, and reasoning.
- Deployable on sovereign infrastructure, reproducible and reliable.
- Robustness and alignment are important
Why hack? Shape how the next wave of AI is built: open, trustworthy, and in the hands of many. Work with cutting-edge open-source tools before they reach industry scale. Gain exposure to ETH AI Center’s & ETH Entrepreneur Club's industry networks — from EY, Google, IBM, and SWISS to innovative startups like LatticeFlow. Potential to turn prototypes into impactful solutions, startups, or investment opportunities.
About the Challenge Partner
ETH AI Center (https://ai.ethz.ch) is ETH's central hub for artificial intelligence. We bring together researchers of AI foundations, applications, and implications across all departments. We foster research excellence, industry innovation, and AI entrepreneurship/start-ups to promote trustworthy, accessible, and inclusive AI systems.
Colosseum (https://www.colosseum-ec.ch/) is an initiative by the ETH Entrepreneur Club (ETH EC) that focuses on organizing hackathons and panel discussions together with industry leaders. The ETH Entrepreneur Club's goal is to inspire, educate and accelerate the next generation of entrepreneurs at ETH Zurich.