Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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We partnered with the U.S. Consulate Chennai and Snap Inc. to run the Freedom 250 TRUST Teams Innovation Challenge: AI + AR Edition — a first-of-its-kind student challenge in Chennai.

13 student teams. 3 tracks — Vernacular & Accessibility AR, AR for Small Businesses, and Heritage & Tourism AR. One question: how can AI and AR solve real problems in India?

Snap Inc. opened up Lens Studio and the AR ecosystem for students to build with, while TheNeural stepped in as the AI partner to help teams think, build, and iterate faster. Demo Day wrapped up at the U.S. Consulate, where the top teams pitched their AI-powered AR prototypes.

🥉 3rd Place: Blyio Lens
🥈 2nd Place: Allangadi Lens
🥇 1st Place: [team name]

A huge thanks to everyone who made this possible — the U.S. Department of State American Center Chennai, Snap Inc., and all the mentors and students who showed up to build the future.

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#AI #AR #Hackathon #SnapInc #USConsulate #Freedom250 #Innovation #StudentChallenge #LensStudio #TheNeural #Shorts