A Japanese tech company has held an app development contest in San Francisco with a very Japanese reward -- a sushi dinner served by a renowned chef.

The Sushi Hackathon was held on Sunday and featured 23 teams selected from about 300 applicants. They presented apps that utilize generative AI.

The competition's theme was improving the profitability of online retail shops. The top prize was 30,000 dollars, in addition to the sushi dinner.

One of the apps automatically creates web designs based on product photos. Another features a multilingual AI assistant that helps users shop on foreign-language websites.

The top prize went to a team that developed an app that forecasts potential customers for new products.

Uematsu Sakiko, an official with the firm that organized the event, says her company wants to use the advanced technology produced in Silicon Valley.

She added that she hopes the ideas presented at the event will pave the way for disruptive innovation.