On Tuesday, April 14, we got a glimpse into the future of AI in the Netherlands during the Dutch AI Congress 2026. As part of the AI Cup, five student teams from Dutch universities pitched their solutions to a societal problem at the intersection of the energy transition and biodiversity.
The challenge: build an AI model that protects birds in wind farms without compromising energy production. They had six weeks to do it.
The results were impressive. Jury chair Marelle van Beerschoten was particularly impressed by the combination of intelligence and enthusiasm with which the teams tackled this challenge. The jury evaluated both the model’s performance and its practical applicability.
First place went to Team Stochastic Gulls Descent from TU Delft. According to the jury, there was no doubt: they were the best on both counts and looked far beyond just the model.
Second place went to Team Geto-Dacians; the jury was impressed by their unique cost analysis and keen awareness of the limitations of radar data.
Team Gazo took third place; the jury praised their strong storytelling and their three-phase implementation approach: from human-in-the-loop to increasing autonomy.
It doesn’t stop here. Natalie Halaskova from Team Epoch announced on stage that the winning team will be working with TNO to actually put their model into practice.
Congratulations to all the winners, and we’ll see you at the next AI Cup in 2027.
The winning team.
