Registration open through Sept. 28; purse of 100 million won
No academic or career requirements — AI problem-solving ability is all that counts
Finals set for November; AI trend seminar also planned
Top performers eligible for fast-track hiring consideration
![SK hynix hosts a hackathon to test participants' practical AI skills. [SK hynix]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/21/news-p.v1.20260921.1e0a8636eb524843be09476cf385ea69_P1.jpg)
SK hynix announced Monday it will hold the "SK hynix AI Hackathon 2026," a competition focused on participants' ability to use AI to solve real-world problems.
Registration is open through Sept. 28 via a dedicated website. The total purse is 100 million won ($72,300).
Applicants need not submit information about their educational background — including school, major or grade point average — and no development experience is required. Participants will be evaluated solely on how they define problems and arrive at solutions using AI.
The competition consists of two rounds of online preliminaries followed by an offline final. The preliminary rounds will assess basic AI proficiency and AI literacy using a range of evaluation tools — including Cofa-Probe, an AI-native recruitment and assessment solution developed by Krafton in partnership with OpenAI — to examine participants' problem-definition, AI application and result-verification processes.
The final will be held Nov. 11 at COEX in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. A panel of judges drawn from the AI and semiconductor fields will assess AI-based evaluation results alongside each participant's problem-solving process and deliverables to select the winners. All finalists will receive an AI competency certificate regardless of whether they win an award.
An AI trend seminar featuring practitioners from SK hynix, OpenAI and Krafton will also be held on the day of the final. The seminar will be open to the general public, with details on how to attend to be announced on the competition website.
SK hynix plans to offer outstanding finalists a fast-track opportunity for future job applications at the company.
"This hackathon was designed so that participants can show how they actually use AI and work through problems, regardless of where they went to school or what they studied," an SK hynix official said. "We hope it becomes an opportunity for people from diverse backgrounds to take on new challenges and discover what they are capable of."
jeongwan@heraldcorp.com
