INTERNATIONAL AI CREATOR AWARD 2026

Discovering the Creators Shaping the AI Era — the 1st International AI Creator Award [AICU Award 2026] opens its second call for entries

An international open call across 10 fields and 7 languages, discovering remarkable creators and preserving their work as part of the emerging history of the AI era. Award ceremony at Inter BEE 2026, Makuhari Messe, in November.

For immediate release · 2026-09-25　 AICU Inc. ／ AICU JapanK.K.

Download the release as PDF (English, 0.2 MB)Japanese (0.7 MB)Read the release as distributed ↗

AICU Inc. and AICU Japan K.K., under the patronage of the Digital Content Association of Japan (DCAJ), are holding the International AI Creator Award 2026 — an international open call in ten fields and seven languages that finds and honours the people who create with generative AI, whoever they work for.

The award evaluates talent in a frame that is independent of capital and of who benefits. The people who see the work decide it, and they say why.

Supported by and partners

First-round entries so far

Entries received28 works from 24 people (13 with the review fee paid, 13 through invitations, 2 awaiting payment)
Countries and regions5
Fields entered9 of 10
From Generative AI Expo Vol.613 works entered with the venue code
Invited entries10 works by 7 past contest winners, now being selected

Counted at 2026-09-25 11:37 JST. Counted from the moment a draft is submitted, whether or not the fee has settled. The office's own test entries are not counted.

Thank you to everyone who entered in the first round, in so short a time. In respect of the work you put forward and the footwork behind it, we introduce these as the First Penguins selection. https://aicu.ai/award/2026/first-penguins/

What this release asks for

Three things are open right now.

1. EntriesOpen now. The first round closed on 24 September 2026; those works are in certification review. Entries continue until 15 October 2026 (AoE). USD 10 per work. Enter
2. PartnersBronze, Silver and Gold. Applications close on 5 October 2026. Public institutions and supporting companies are free in exchange for a logo placement, if committed by that date. See the plans
3. Award SupporterUSD 10. Your name appears in the credits, and you hold a vote in the final round — cast with your comment and critique attached. Become a supporter · Those who already have

What is different here

1. Entering takes one URL

Paste the URL of your work — YouTube, X, or an AICU work certificate — and the entry form drafts itself. In a measured run, 12 of the 18 required questions were filled automatically: the field, title, summary, public date, representative, contact and both key images. What is left for a person is what only a person can answer, including the consents, which are never ticked automatically.

2. A record that a third party can verify

Work that passes receives a work certificate at cert.aicu.ai. When, by whom and what was published stays in a form anyone can check afterwards. The certificate belongs to the author, not to an employer or a school, and survives a change of job or of company.

3. The vote is open, and the reasons are published

The public vote is free and open to anyone, from 26 October to 15 November 2026. Each person votes once in every one of the ten fields — ten votes in all — so every field is judged by the same body of people. In the final round, votes count only with a comment and a critique attached, and those critiques are published together with the result.

The ten fields

Outline

NameInternational AI Creator Award 2026
Who can enterAnyone who creates with generative AI — individuals, teams inside companies, university labs, startups. Self-nomination and nomination by others are both open.
Eligible workWork with a public date between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2026, reachable by a third party without a login (X, YouTube, the web, and so on).
FieldsTen. One work is judged in every field it belongs to — no re-entry.
LanguagesSeven: Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese, French, Spanish, Portuguese.
Review feeUSD 10 per work, paid at submission. The public vote is free for everyone.
PartnersSupported by: Digital Content Association of Japan (DCAJ) · Technology partner: OpenAI · Technology partner: ElevenLabs Grants · In cooperation with: AI Film Festival Japan 2026 · Media partner: Windows Forest · Supported by: Digital Hollywood University
Ceremony20 November 2026, during INTER BEE IGNITION × DCEXPO at Makuhari Messe.

Schedule

2026-09-11Entries open
2026-09-24First round of entries closes
2026-09-25Press release on the first-round works
2026-10-15Final close for entries
2026-10-05Partner applications close
2026-10-16–2026-10-26Preliminary review and nominee announcements
2026-10-26Public vote opens
2026-11-15Public vote closes
2026-11-18–2026-11-20Ceremony and reception

From the Generative AI Expo, 23 September

At the Generative AI Expo Vol.6 (Hamamatsucho, Tokyo), visitors could enter on the spot with the URL of their work, using a venue code that waived the review fee. 13 works came from that one day.

Comment

Generative AI has made creation open to everyone. What is still missing is an international place where genuinely good work is recognised on its merits and carries the maker to the next step. This award is not a one-off prize race, a tool promotion, or a corporate ranking. It is where companies, individuals and the people who love creative AI meet, sharpen each other, and where a creator can prove what they can do and find peers around the world.

Akihiko Shirai, Ph.D. — CEO, AICU Inc. / Representative Director, AICU Japan K.K.

Partners

We are looking for partners who want to back the next generation of creators. Bronze partners and above can recommend work directly. Details and the current openings: https://aicu.ai/award/2026/partner/

Press kit

Download everything (12 images and 2 PDFs, 7.5 MB, zip)

Contact

International AI Creator Award Office, AICU Japan K.K. award@aicu.ai · https://aicu.ai/award/