A new literary prize explicitly inviting manuscripts co-written with AI tools has launched this week.

According to AOL, the Prix Pascal de Littérature IA asks entrants to submit an unpublished manuscript of between 10,000 and 50,000 words, along with information about which AI model and prompt were used to generate the text.

The Daily Star reports the prize was announced on October 21 by three technology entrepreneurs: Philippe Rodriguez, Albin Serviant and Gilles Mentré. All major language models are allowed, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and LLaMA, and the winner is promised publication.

Submissions for the first edition close November 30, with the winner due to be announced in mid-December, per The Daily Star.

The launch lands at a moment when AI in fiction is a live controversy rather than an accepted practice.

According to The Daily Star, Canadian-Haitian writer Thelyson Orelien, whose novel "It was Either That or Die" won the FNAC novel prize in September, faced allegations of using AI; after weeks of denials, his Canadian publisher Boreal said on October 21 that it had confirmed his use of AI in the writing process, and he was removed from the Prix Goncourt shortlist.

AOL notes the prize follows months of controversy over possible AI use by finalists and winners at the Commonwealth short story prize, the Caine prize and the Prix Goncourt, France's most prestigious literary award.

The details make the prize unusually transparent by design: entrants must disclose the AI model and the prompts used, per The Daily Star. Entries can come from writers anywhere in the world but must be submitted in French.

AOL reports that while the terms ask for a work of fiction, submitted texts should also help solve an ethical, social or ecological problem threatening humanity.

The prize is named after Blaise Pascal, the French polymath who helped invent one of the first mechanical calculators and wrote the theological text Pensées — a choice linking computing machines and literary depth.

AOL describes the founders as a crypto-and-blockchain figure, a digital media entrepreneur and a Harvard-teaching former civil servant with a PhD in philosophy.

Applications opened on Tuesday and submissions close at the end of November, with AOL reporting that a shortlist of 10 will be drawn up before the winner is announced in early December.

The Daily Star puts the winner announcement in mid-December and notes the prize has yet to establish a jury or announce prize money. AOL reports the jury will be made up of a panel of five or six writers, critics, journalists, philosophers and publishers, to be announced in early November.

The slight timing differences between the two outlets mean the exact announcement date should be read as reported, but the November 30 deadline is corroborated by both.

The organisers say the work itself will be the main consideration, describing the competition as an opportunity to recognise unpublished fiction co-written with AI, according to The Daily Star.

For publishers, a promised publication deal for the winner creates a test case for how the market and readers receive openly AI-assisted fiction.

For the wider prize ecosystem — where AI allegations have already cost a Goncourt finalist his place — the Prix Pascal offers an alternative framing: disclosure rather than disqualification.

The calendar is tight and watchable. Jury members are expected to be named in early November, submissions close at the end of November, and a ten-title shortlist leads to a winner announcement in December, per AOL and The Daily Star.

Devoted prize-watchers will be tracking three things: whether the judges' panel brings the literary credibility the founders' tech backgrounds lack, whether entrants genuinely disclose their prompts and models as required, and whether the first winning manuscript meets the prize's own demand that fiction help solve an ethical, social or ecological problem threatening humanity.