OpenAI, the operator of ChatGPT, said on March 3 it will hold the finals of an "AI hackathon" in Seoul on March 7 with developer YouTuber JoCoding and startup accelerator Primer. JoCoding has 720,000 subscribers.

The preliminary round ran from Feb. 7 to 20 and drew 3,295 participants, including developers and prospective founders. Thirty teams selected through judging will compete in the finals.

Participants aim to develop and launch working AI-based services and products using the OpenAI API and the coding agent Codex (GPT-5.3-Codex), among other tools. Ahead of the event, JoCoding ran an online education program for about 5 weeks, providing participants with the full process of AI service development.

All participants who submitted results during the preliminary period will receive OpenAI API credits worth $100 per person. The grand prize winner will receive OpenAI credits worth $15,000 and a 1-year ChatGPT Pro subscription.

Kyung-hoon Kim (김경훈), head of OpenAI Korea, said, "This is a place to show the possibility that anyone can create real AI services and products using Codex." He added, "We will continue to support the revitalisation of the domestic AI startup and developer ecosystem."