- Global computer remanufacturer Circular Computing teamed up with Formula E, Google Cloud and ChromeOS to set a world record for the largest in-person generative AI hackathon
- The event saw 1,130 people take part in the London Excel event, using second-life laptops to tackle 7 challenges during the final Formula E race of the season
Technology and sustainability took pole position as more than a thousand coders gathered to set a new world record, using remanufactured laptops to show how AI can drive motorsports forward.
A total of 1,130 people from top UK companies attended an all-day team coding event at ExCeL London, the most to ever take part at an in-person generative AI hackathon.
The hackathon, organised by Google Cloud, ChromeOS and Formula E, saw participants compete in a range of challenges based around the all-electric racing series.
Every team was equipped with second-life laptops from global hardware remanufacturer Circular Computing and used Google Cloud’s artificial intelligence tools Vertex AI and Gemini 1.5 to solve motor-related challenges. These included designing an AI system to improve on-track safety as well as a tool to compare a Formula E car’s sustainability with any other vehicle.
For Circular Computing, whose sustainable remanufacturing process uses 6.34% of the C02 required to produce a brand-new laptop, the event comes hot on the heels of a landmark four-year deal with the Irish government to supply second-life notebooks to the private sector. The company’s laptops also carry a BSI Kitemark, meaning they are guaranteed to perform as well, or better than, new.
The hackathon, which was officially honoured with a Guinness World Record, took place on the eve of the London E-Prix.
Rod Neale, founder of Circular Computing, comments: “We were honoured to be invited by Google Cloud to be part of the AI hackathon.
“Like Formula E, we want to show that high performance and innovation can go hand in hand with sustainability, and it was a thrill to see some of the UK’s best coders get behind the wheel of our remanufactured laptops and set a new world record.”
About Circular Computing™
Circular Computing™ is the global leader in the remanufacturing of laptops, on a mission to create a more ethical, sustainable, and socially responsible way to buy enterprise-grade IT.
Operating from its state-of-the-art remanufacturing facility, Circular Computing has the world’s first and only BSI Kitemark™ for remanufactured laptops, certifying that it produces products ‘equal to or better than new’ as required by the BS standard BS8887-220 and BS8887-211. Through its 360-point stage Circular Remanufacturing Process, Circular Computing delivers HP, Dell and Lenovo laptops that look and perform like new, all whilst ensuring carbon-neutral processes and end-product.
Circular Computing’s Circular Remanufacturing Process delivers the innovative alternative to ‘new’, going above and beyond a cosmetically improved finish to ensure an intense focus on performance and reliability. Through its reforestation drive, which plants 5 trees for every device sold, otherwise vulnerable families are employed. These social projects create shade, cloud and ultimately rain. There is also bio-diversity in the environment, and of course, it is one of the best natural carbon sinks available on the planet.
Please visit: www.circularcomputing.com
