Educational Background Not Considered... SK hynix to Hold 'AI Hackathon 2026' with 100 Million Won in Prizes

Excluding Academic Background, Major, and Experience
Assessing Problem-Solving Skills Using AI
Fast-Track Recruitment for Outstanding Participants

SK hynix is set to host a large-scale hackathon that evaluates only participants' problem-solving skills using artificial intelligence (AI), eliminating considerations of educational background, major, or other credentials.

SK hynix announced that it will hold the 'SK hynix AI Hackathon 2026' with a total prize pool of 100 million won, and will accept applications via a dedicated website from September 21 to 28.

For this competition, educational details such as school attended, major, and grades are not collected from the application stage. There are no separate requirements regarding development experience. The only core evaluation criteria are the process and outcome by which participants define problems and derive solutions using AI.

The event will consist of two rounds of online preliminaries, followed by an offline final. The online preliminaries will assess participants’ basic AI proficiency and AI literacy. Multiple AI competency assessment tools, including Krafton’s AI-native recruitment and evaluation solution 'Cofa-Probe,' in which OpenAI participates as a partner, will be used to comprehensively evaluate the problem definition, AI utilization, and result verification processes.

The final will be held on November 11 at COEX in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. A panel of judges composed of experts in the AI and semiconductor fields will select the winners by comprehensively reviewing AI-based assessment results, the problem-solving process, and final deliverables. All finalists will receive a certificate of AI competency, regardless of whether they win an award.

On the day of the final, there will also be an AI trend seminar featuring professionals from SK hynix, OpenAI, and Krafton in the AI field. The seminar will be open to the public, and further details, including how to attend, will be provided on the event website.

SK hynix plans to offer a fast-track opportunity for future company recruitment to top-performing finalists in the competition.

An SK hynix representative stated, "The aim of this hackathon is to highlight how participants actually use AI to solve problems, without being restricted by educational background or major." He added, "We hope the event becomes an opportunity for participants from diverse backgrounds to tackle new challenges and discover their own capabilities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.