Rebecca PY MALAYSIA, 13 OCTOBER 2026 – Sea and OpenAI have officially announced the Malaysia edition of the Sea x OpenAI Regional Codex Hackathon Series, set to take place in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 5 December 2026.
Centred around the theme Solving Unmet Needs with AI, the one-day hackathon will assemble 40 selected teams comprising developers, students, startups, and technology builders from across Malaysia to build with OpenAI’s Codex platform. Working in collaborative teams, participants will identify pressing real-world challenges and build practical artificial intelligence solutions under the direct mentorship of experts from Sea and OpenAI.
As Malaysia advances its national ambition to become an AI Nation by 2030, developing local talent capable of building and applying AI responsibly remains critical to translating vision into practical applications. In alignment with these goals, the Malaysian edition aims to give local developers hands-on experience with cutting-edge AI technologies, cultivate technical skill sets, and foster community interaction across the tech ecosystem.
David Chen, Co-Founder of Sea and Chief Product Officer at Shopee, emphasized that AI delivers maximum value when deployed purposefully with a solid grasp of how people live and work. He noted that as artificial intelligence tools become widespread, the core focus must transition from raw capability to practical, responsible execution.The regional hackathon series builds on Sea’s integration of Codex within its engineering team. Having kicked off in Singapore in June before moving to Taiwan, the roadshow will visit Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand prior to its arrival in Malaysia.
Jon Sugihara, Head of AI Success Engineering for Asia Pacific at OpenAI, highlighted the vital role developers play in adapting AI to serve specific local context. He noted that through the partnership with Sea, OpenAI aims to empower Malaysian builders to leverage Codex and advanced models like GPT-6 Astra to convert creative concepts into impactful solutions.
Participating teams will compete for prize pools denominated in OpenAI API credits, structured as follows:
Additionally, every individual member of the top five winning teams will receive a one-year subscription to ChatGPT Pro.
Event Details:
Registration is open and closes on Friday, 6 November 2026.