Nano Banana Hackathon Kit (github.com)

Google DeepMind has launched the Nano Banana 48 Hour Challenge, a hackathon centered around their cutting-edge Gemini 2.5 Flash Image Preview model, nicknamed Nano Banana. For two days starting September 6, 2025, participants can access a special free tier of the Gemini API to create innovative visual applications, with over $400,000 in prizes sponsored by DeepMind, Fal, and ElevenLabs. The challenge encourages developers to push beyond basic text-to-image generation by leveraging Gemini’s dynamic image editing, world knowledge, and multi-reality blending capabilities to redefine how users interact with visuals. This event is significant for the AI/ML community as it provides hands-on experience with one of the most advanced image generation models to date, highlighting features like consistent character rendering, context-aware image fusion, and natural language-driven photo editing. The hackathon’s structure—including a comprehensive starter kit, code examples in Python and JavaScript, and detailed prompting guides—lowers the barrier for innovation while fostering creative solutions in storytelling, e-commerce visualization, automated marketing, and beyond. Judging criteria focus on creativity, technical execution, impact, and presentation, making it a valuable opportunity for developers to showcase novel uses of Gemini’s capabilities in producing compelling, real-world applications.