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Operated independently from specific capital and interests
INTERNATIONAL AI CREATOR AWARD 2026
A new light for
A new light for
global creativity.
Creating People Who Create in the AI Creator Era
Technology and creativity, judged fairly. From Japan to the world, celebrating creators shaping our future with generative AI.
✦For work created from 2025–2027
◎Public vote with a 10,000-participant goal
↗Awarded at DCEXPO 2026, Makuhari Messe
WHY THIS AWARD
A fair stage for talent without borders.
Generative AI has released creative power beyond borders and organizations. Combining preliminary review with a public vote, this award aims to become an international benchmark for technology and creativity—open to individuals, startups, and companies alike.
Inclusive
Opportunity beyond language, geography, and company size
Creative
Recognizing new expression and social impact—not technology alone
10 CATEGORIES
Ten fields. One summit. Create.
2026 ROADMAP
From discovery to the global stage.
Eligible works: created between 2025 and 2027 and publicly referenceable by third parties. Selection combines a preliminary review with a free, one-person-one-vote public vote planned for November.
WINNER CREDENTIALS
An award that keeps opening doors.
Every winner receives a verifiable credential at cert.aicu.ai—designed to turn recognition into commissions, collaborations, licensing, speaking invitations, employment, and investment conversations.
A public certificate built to be checked.
The credential connects the award year, category, rank, creator, winning work, and public source URL in one shareable record.
Visit cert.aicu.ai ↗A clear international distinction.
A legible hierarchy makes achievement easy to understand across borders and industries.
GRAND PRIXCATEGORY WINNERNOMINEE
Proof that travels with the creator.
A permanent, shareable record gives studios, brands, publishers, agencies, and media a trusted starting point.
From award stage to the next offer.
Winner profiles are designed for discovery and future invitation workflows. Opportunity features will make it easier for verified organizations to reach creators without publishing private contact details.
Winners become judges for the next generation.
In the AI era, it is not AI or the market but AI creators themselves who can recognize a creator's true value. Talent that takes home a trophy at this award also joins as an AI Creator Academy member for the generations that follow — the ecosystem, and the DNA, that keeps humans at the pinnacle of AI creativity.
Special recognition for emerging student creators.
We plan to recognize students making an impact in each creative field.
PARTNER WITH US
Take the next generation to the world with us.
Companies, DCEXPO / Inter BEE exhibitors, institutions, media organizations, and individual supporters all build this award together. Partners gain visibility to an international creator community, co-creation with winners, and — through our cooperation with DCAJ — direct reach into Japan's largest digital content event.
WHEN✦ Applications close October 5, 2026
WHERE◎ Ceremony at DCEXPO 2026, Makuhari Messe
HOW↗ Pay via Stripe, or talk to us first
Applications received after October 5, 2026 may miss nomination announcements and printed ceremony materials. Attending the ceremony & networking reception without a partnership tier: USD $50.
MEDIA & INSTITUTIONAL
Amplify the creators everyone will talk about next.
Media partners join nominee discovery, winner interviews, editorial features, and international distribution around the award.
AICU has supported Japan's generative-AI creative community since 2022 — four published books, the monthly 150-page full-color AICU Magazine, a shelf at Shibuya AICU Bookstore, a serialized feature on Impress's Forest of Windows (窓の杜), and the Weekly AICU newsletter.
Explore AICU Magazine ↗
An existing AICU ecosystem grant relationship shown as a logo-placement reference. Award partnership is agreed separately.
Your logo belongs beside the next generation.
Open to publishers, broadcasters, newsrooms, platforms, communities, festivals, and creator-economy media. Bespoke editorial and distribution partnerships are available.
MEDIA PARTNER
OPEN SLOT 01
OPEN SLOT 01
MEDIA PARTNER
OPEN SLOT 02
OPEN SLOT 02
MEDIA PARTNER
OPEN SLOT 03
OPEN SLOT 03
PARTNER NETWORK
Organizations building the award with us.
TAKE PART
Three ways to shape the award.
Submit work, support the creator community, or take part in the international public vote.
Enter the award
Eligibility, categories, submission requirements, and entry schedule.
Open portal →Partner with us
Partnership plans, institutional cooperation, media, and community participation.
View below ↓Vote for nominees
Nominee discovery, voting rules, integrity measures, and results.
Open portal →EVENT SUPPORT CHARACTERS
AICU creator community characters support the next generation.
“Creating People Who Create” — the AICU creator community celebrates the next generation through the AI Creator Award. AiCuty was born in July 2025 from an open call across 46 works: idols created by people and AI.
AiCuty · FILM / ART
Saki Noir
Film, video, visual art and K-pop dance.
AiCuty · SOCIAL
Elena Bloom
Influencer culture, community and social storytelling.
AiCuty · CHARACTER
Mei Soleil
Character design, manga and hip-hop dance.
AiCuty · RESEARCH
Mina Azure
Research and analytical creative practice.
AiCuty · MUSIC / TECH
Nao Verde
Music and creative technology.
EVENT SUPPORT CHARACTER
Marsha Arancia
Culture editor, ZINE maker, DJ / VJ / sampler / MC.
EVENT SUPPORT CHARACTER
Minty Berry
Mint and Strawberry bring performance, video and character energy.
EVENT SUPPORT CHARACTER
Cosmo Travelers
Captain Nyago and friends open worlds for games, tools and XR.
ORGANIZER
Creating People Who Create.
白井暁彦 / Akihiko SHIRAI, Ph.D.FOUNDER & CEO, AICU INC. / AICU JAPAN K.K.
Professor, Faculty of Information Design, Kaishi Innovation University / Project Professor, Digital Hollywood University Graduate School (Creative AI Lab)
A researcher and creator working across entertainment VR, social XR, media art, and generative AI for nearly three decades. Ph.D. in Engineering (Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2003). After R&D at Canon, Criterion Software (RenderWare), NHK-ES, ENSAM (France) and Miraikan, he led avatar-driven metaverse UX as Laboratory Director of GREE VR Studio (2018–2023). In 2023 he founded AICU as an international AI creator union with the mission "Creating People Who Create." Author of the ComfyUI Master Guide and more; AICU was selected for the Supercell AI Innovation Lab in 2026.
AICU AWARD
This award is organized as part of the AICU Award — Award for International Creator Universe — making the creator universe of the generative-AI era visible, and connecting recognition, learning, and ethics to the next generation of creators.
PARTNERSHIP 2026
Reserve the partner deck
Get priority access when the deck is released. You can also discuss partnership and service collaboration.
