Join the Gemma 4 Challenge: $3,000 prize pool for TEN winners! - DEV Community

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Report Abuse Cover image for Join the Gemma 4 Challenge: $3,000 prize pool for TEN winners! The DEV Team profile image Jess Lee Jess Lee Subscriber for The DEV Team Posted on May 6 o Edited on Jun 18 (BUTTON) [sparkle-heart-5f9bee3767e18deb1bb725290cb151c25234768a0e9a2bd39370c382d02920cf.svg] (BUTTON) [multi-unicorn-b44d6f8c23cdd00964192bedc38af3e82463978aa611b4365bd33a0f1f4f3e97.svg] (BUTTON) [exploding-head-daceb38d627e6ae9b730f36a1e390fca556a4289d5a41abb2c35068ad3e2c4b5.svg] (BUTTON) [raised-hands-74b2099fd66a39f2d7eed9305ee0f4553df0eb7b4f11b01b6b1b499973048fe5.svg] (BUTTON) [fire-f60e7a582391810302117f987b22a8ef04a2fe0df7e3258a5f49332df1cec71e.svg] Join the Gemma 4 Challenge: $3,000 prize pool for TEN winners! #devchallenge #gemmachallenge #gemma Announcing the Gemma 4 Challenge Winners Announced! Congrats to the Gemma 4 Challenge Winners! Record turnout for local and offline AI builds The DEV Team logo jess profile Jess Lee (BUTTON) Jess Lee Subscriber Jess Lee (BUTTON) Follow for The DEV Team Jun 18 Congrats to the Gemma 4 Challenge Winners! #devchallenge #gemmachallenge #gemma [multi-unicorn-b44d6f8c23cdd00964192bedc38af3e82463978aa611b4365bd33a0f1f4f3e97.svg] [exploding-head-daceb38d627e6ae9b730f36a1e390fca556a4289d5a41abb2c35068ad3e2c4b5.svg] [sparkle-heart-5f9bee3767e18deb1bb725290cb151c25234768a0e9a2bd39370c382d02920cf.svg] 26 reactions 8 comments 3 min read (BUTTON) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ May 28 Update: Winner announcement delayed until June 18: read the update here __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Local AI is having a moment, and we want you to be part of it! Running through May 24, the Gemma 4 Challenge invites you to explore open models. With the release of Gemma 4, Google's most capable open model family yet, we now have access to native multimodal capabilities, advanced reasoning, a 128K context window, and models that range from running on a Raspberry Pi, to phones, to powering large-scale deployments. Whether you love to build or love to write, there's a prompt for you and a $3,000 prize pool up for grabs! Read on to learn more. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Our Prompts Build With Gemma 4 Your mandate is to build something useful or creative with any Gemma 4 model. The scope is wide open -- you can build anything from an IoT integration to a multimodal tool to a long-context reasoning app. What matters is that Gemma 4 is doing real work at the heart of your project. Build With Gemma 4 Submission Template The most compelling submissions will make a clear case for why you chose the model you did and what that model unlocked. Write About Gemma 4 Your mandate is to publish a post about Gemma 4 that educates, inspires, or sparks curiosity. There's no single right format -- what matters is that your post offers something genuine and useful to the community. Not sure what to write about? Here are some ideas: * How-to guide: Walk through setting up and running a Gemma 4 model locally, fine-tuning it for a specific task, or integrating it into a real project * Comparison piece: Break down the three Gemma 4 model variants and help readers decide which one is right for their use case * Personal essay or opinion piece: Share your experience building with Gemma 4, or make a case for something -- what does a model this capable running locally mean for the future of AI? * Deep technical breakdown: Explore a specific capability like multimodal input, the 128K context window, or reasoning mode Write About Gemma 4 Submission Template Need inspiration? Check out how Google's own team fine-tuned Gemma 4 with Cloud Run Jobs. That's the kind of hands-on, shareable knowledge is exactly what we're looking for. Note: If you are primarily showing off a project, please submit to the Build with Gemma 4 prompt instead! Each submission is only allowed to be eligible for one of the two categories. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Which Model Is Right for You? Gemma 4 model family spans three distinct architectures tailored for specific hardware requirements: * Small Sizes: 2B and 4B effective parameter models built for ultra-mobile, edge, and browser deployment (e.g., Pixel). * Dense: A powerful 31B parameter dense model that bridges the gap between server-grade performance and local execution. * Mixture-of-Experts: A highly efficient 26B MoE model designed for high-throughput, advanced reasoning. No matter which you choose, judges will be looking for intentional model selection -- show us why your model was the right tool for the job. Prizes Five winners from the "Build with Gemma 4" prompt will receive: * $500 USD cash prize * DEV++ Membership * Exclusive DEV Badge Five winners from the "Write About Gemma 4" prompt will receive: * $100 USD cash prize * DEV++ Membership * Exclusive DEV Badge All participants with a valid submission will receive a completion badge on their DEV profile. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Judging Criteria Build With Gemma 4 submissions will be evaluated for: * Intentional and effective use of the chosen Gemma 4 model * Technical implementation and code quality * Creativity and originality * Usability and user experience Write About Gemma 4 submissions will be evaluated for: * Clarity and depth of explanation * Originality of perspective or insight * Practical value to the community * Quality of writing __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Getting Started With Gemma 4 Gemma 4 is open -- you have several ways to get started, including completely free options: * Gemini API via Google AI Studio: Access Gemma 4 through the Gemini API. * Run locally (free, no credit card required): Download any Gemma 4 model directly from Hugging Face or Kaggle. The E2B model runs on high-end phones -- or even a Raspberry Pi 5. * OpenRouter (free tier available): Access Gemma 4 31B via OpenRouter's free tier -- no credit card required. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Important Dates * May 6: Gemma 4 Challenge begins! * May 24: Submissions due at 11:59 PM PDT * [DEL: June 4: Winners Announced :DEL] * June 18: Winners Announced We can't wait to see what you build and write! Questions about the challenge? Drop them in the comments below. Good luck and happy coding! Top comments (104) Subscribe pic ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ (BUTTON) Personal (BUTTON) Trusted User Create template Templates let you quickly answer FAQs or store snippets for re-use. (BUTTON) Submit (BUTTON) Preview Dismiss francistrdev profile image FrancisTR� (tU�)tU (BUTTON) FrancisTR� (tU�)tU Subscriber FrancisTR� (tU�)tU [subscription-icon-805dfa7ac7dd660f07ed8d654877270825b07a92a03841aa99a1093bd00431b2.png] (button) Follow ��-���� ������� � ����� �������� � tu _ �tu� (((�><�)^)^) " � � n"�R �ILL �ILR" - �Rn"LIn" . R��L * Location United States * Education Master's in Software Engineering * Pronouns He/Him * Work Joe Senior Full-Stack Developer at CALEC Joe * Joined Jan 14, 2026 o May 7 (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * This challenge is either a make or break for me! Will probably do both, but we will see. @jess If you are doing both prompts, would it be appropriate to do in one post or do you prefer to be separate post. I say this because I was thinking about writing about Gemma 4, but also showcase what I built (not going to spoil it yet). Regardless, hope to see what the community builts/writes :D (BUTTON) 9 likes Like (BUTTON) Reply jess profile image Jess Lee The DEV Team (BUTTON) Jess Lee The DEV Team Subscriber Jess Lee [subscription-icon-805dfa7ac7dd660f07ed8d654877270825b07a92a03841aa99a1093bd00431b2.png] (button) Follow Building DEV and Forem with everyone here. Interested in the future. * Email [email protected] * Location USA / TAIWAN * Pronouns she/they * Work Co-Founder & COO at Forem * Joined Jul 29, 2016 o May 7 o Edited on May 7 o Edited (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * Hey @francistrdev! I would keep those as two separate submissions. The content should be different though, please don't just duplicate two posts. (BUTTON) 5 likes Like (BUTTON) Reply francistrdev profile image FrancisTR� (tU�)tU (BUTTON) FrancisTR� (tU�)tU Subscriber FrancisTR� (tU�)tU [subscription-icon-805dfa7ac7dd660f07ed8d654877270825b07a92a03841aa99a1093bd00431b2.png] (button) Follow ��-���� ������� � ����� �������� � tu _ �tu� (((�><�)^)^) " � � n"�R �ILL �ILR" - �Rn"LIn" . R��L * Location United States * Education Master's in Software Engineering * Pronouns He/Him * Work Joe Senior Full-Stack Developer at CALEC Joe * Joined Jan 14, 2026 o May 7 (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * Sounds good! Thanks! I also sent you an email on other stuff! Noticed you might be busy lol. lmk! (BUTTON) 1 like Like (BUTTON) Reply v_rai_7a0813fcee9d16 profile image Vikassh. (BUTTON) Vikassh. Vikassh. (button) Follow * Joined May 8, 2026 o May 8 (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * Interesting perspective. Curious how others are handling this." (BUTTON) 6 likes Like (BUTTON) Reply ben profile image Ben Halpern The DEV Team (BUTTON) Ben Halpern The DEV Team Subscriber Ben Halpern [subscription-icon-805dfa7ac7dd660f07ed8d654877270825b07a92a03841aa99a1093bd00431b2.png] (button) Follow A Canadian software developer who thinks he's funny. * Email [email protected] * Location NY * Education Mount Allison University * Pronouns He/him * Work Co-founder at Forem * Joined Dec 27, 2015 o May 6 (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * This one is going to be great. I'm most excited about the IOT related use cases, but it all seems cool. (BUTTON) 10 likes Like (BUTTON) Reply aashitanegii profile image Aashita (BUTTON) Aashita Subscriber Aashita [subscription-icon-805dfa7ac7dd660f07ed8d654877270825b07a92a03841aa99a1093bd00431b2.png] (button) Follow eat sleep code repeat is my niche * Joined Apr 18, 2026 o May 8 (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * I explored Gemma 4 through the lens of local AI ownership-- how moving from cloud-only APIs to capable local models changes the experience for users. One of the most interesting parts for me was intentionally choosing the E4B model instead of defaulting to the largest variant, because accessibility matters just as much as raw capability. Feel free to check out my submission Excited to read what everyone else is building and writing! (BUTTON) 4 likes Like (BUTTON) Reply hemapriya_kanagala profile image Hemapriya Kanagala (BUTTON) Hemapriya Kanagala Hemapriya Kanagala (button) Follow Hey, I'm Hema Developer, writer, and creator of Dev Opportunity Radar, a weekly series published every Friday on DEV, helping people discover opportunities they might otherwise miss. * Location Andhra Pradesh, India * Education M.S. in CS at University of Oklahoma * Pronouns She/Her * Joined Jun 30, 2025 o May 7 (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * love this, definitely joining in (BUTTON) 5 likes Like (BUTTON) Reply fm profile image Fayaz (BUTTON) Fayaz Subscriber Fayaz [subscription-icon-805dfa7ac7dd660f07ed8d654877270825b07a92a03841aa99a1093bd00431b2.png] (button) Follow A Software Engineer who is not afraid of being replaced by AI, loves coding and writing with and without using AI, and values human life and human dignity far more than technological advancements. * Location Bangladesh * Education BSc. in Computer Science & Engineering * Work Building a new SaaS * Joined Nov 12, 2017 o May 7 (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * This is a yummy challenge! Hope to see a lot of really useful projects, and at the same time some useless but still cool projects! Love it Thanks to Google and the Dev team! (BUTTON) 6 likes Like (BUTTON) Reply cleverhoods profile image G�bor M�sz�ros (BUTTON) G�bor M�sz�ros Subscriber G�bor M�sz�ros [subscription-icon-805dfa7ac7dd660f07ed8d654877270825b07a92a03841aa99a1093bd00431b2.png] (button) Follow Backend developer turned builder. 20 years in software, now building Reporails - instruction governance for coding agents. Writing about context engineering and patterns that make AI agents reliable. * Location Hungary * Joined Dec 5, 2025 o May 7 (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * Rock & roll (BUTTON) 5 likes Like (BUTTON) Reply umarpathan profile image Umar Pathan (BUTTON) Umar Pathan Umar Pathan (button) Follow Always learning, always building. * Joined Sep 14, 2025 o May 7 (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * This is a cool challenge. Gemma 4 should lead to some really interesting projects. (BUTTON) 4 likes Like (BUTTON) Reply ggle_in profile image HARD IN SOFT OUT (BUTTON) HARD IN SOFT OUT HARD IN SOFT OUT (button) Follow I believe good technical writing should either teach you something or make you feel less alone in the dystopia. Preferably both. * Location Indonesia * Education still learning, havent found the end of education yet... * Pronouns human! hey look... thats human too! * Work gardener who love to code and write things. please let me know if i can fit the slot on your team. * Joined Apr 17, 2026 o May 7 (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * I want to.. I need to find something I could do with my potato laptop. it's hot even to compile cpp with 20 lines still waiting for +5 mins. (BUTTON) 3 likes Like (BUTTON) Reply ggle_in profile image HARD IN SOFT OUT (BUTTON) HARD IN SOFT OUT HARD IN SOFT OUT (button) Follow I believe good technical writing should either teach you something or make you feel less alone in the dystopia. Preferably both. * Location Indonesia * Education still learning, havent found the end of education yet... * Pronouns human! hey look... thats human too! * Work gardener who love to code and write things. please let me know if i can fit the slot on your team. * Joined Apr 17, 2026 o May 8 (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * ahh, theres solution <3 thank you google & ollama for the cloud <3 amazing! (BUTTON) 1 like Like (BUTTON) Reply paerrin profile image Paerrin (BUTTON) Paerrin Paerrin (button) Follow Physical Security Architect by day. Rust and embedded enthusiast by night. Playing with AI tooling and ML with local AI. * Location Centennial, CO * Work Physical Security Architect * Joined Mar 6, 2024 o May 7 (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * Nice! I've already got some good testing with it in my agents memory. (BUTTON) 4 likes Like (BUTTON) Reply vivek_shetye profile image Vivek Shetye (BUTTON) Vivek Shetye Vivek Shetye (button) Follow Software Engineer (7+ yrs) building scalable systems and exploring Agentic AI. Sharing practical tutorials on AI workflows, automation, and multi-agent systems. * Location Vancouver, BC * Joined Apr 14, 2026 o May 7 (BUTTON) * Copy link * * (BUTTON) Hide * * * This is exciting. definitely joining this challenge. (BUTTON) 3 likes Like (BUTTON) Reply View full discussion (104 comments) Some comments may only be visible to logged-in visitors. Sign in to view all comments. Code of Conduct o Report abuse Are you sure you want to hide this comment? It will become hidden in your post, but will still be visible via the comment's permalink. 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