Supercell kicks off Hello World Open, a woldwide AI coding contest

Clash of Clans creator Supercell has begun accepting applications for participation in its inaugural worldwide AI coding challenge, the Hello World Open. The competition is being held in partnership with Finnish technology company Reaktor, and is billed as an attempt to attract attention to Finland's game development scene and "give back to the game development community." Challengers are invited to form small teams -- 1-3 people -- and enter before April 7th to compete by programming an artificial intelligence that will race a virtual car against those fielded by other teams. Teams will have the two weeks from April 15-29 to code their driver AI; the fastest virtual drivers from around the world will then be determined through a series of three qualifying rounds held May 6-8. The top two qualifying teams of each round will be flown by Supercell to the company's stomping ground, Helsinki, for a four-day celebratory excursion. During that time, the six finalists will compete in the championship finals on June 5th for prizes from a pool valued at roughly $13,000. The competition is free to enter and the tickets to the championship finals in Finland are free, though you'll need to get yourself there. Developers interested in taking part can find more details about the competition on the Hello World Open website.