This even made the news in my parts, in case you weren't 150% sure if it's big-money backed AI white washing marketing push. Even their website host vercel.com list their primary business as 'agentic infrastructure', i.e. selling AI wrangling software.

Rodriguez is a founding partner at the mergers and acquisitions advisory firm Avolta

His avolta bio also notes

Philippe is a leading figure in the European crypto and blockchain industry, serving as the president of Bitcoin France for three years

Which OK least surprising thing ever. So (per google) a crypto guy, a magazine publisher and a banker with an e-voting business walk into a bar and found an AI literary award, I wonder who got the effective altruism grant first. Maybe in late November when the judges are revealed we get a clearer picture of the people involved.

Bulwer-Lytton contest ended 2 years too early.