Malaysian developers, students and startup builders have a new reason to spend a Saturday coding this December. The Sea x OpenAI Codex Hackathon is coming to Kuala Lumpur on 5 December 2026, a one-day event where 40 teams will build practical AI tools using OpenAI's Codex, with US$50,000 in OpenAI credits on the line for the top finishers.
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What the Codex Hackathon involves
Run under the theme "Solving Unmet Needs with AI", the hackathon asks teams to find a real-world problem and build a working solution for it in a single day. Participants work with OpenAI's Codex, its AI coding tool, and get hands-on guidance from engineers at both Sea and OpenAI. OpenAI says teams will also be able to use its latest frontier models to turn ideas into working prototypes.
It is open to developers, students, startups and other technology builders from across Malaysia, with 40 teams expected to take part. The full day runs from 8am to 9pm at the Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur.
Prizes and how to register
The prize pool is paid in OpenAI API credits, which teams can use to keep building after the event:
- First place: US$30,000 in OpenAI API credits
- Second place: US$15,000 in OpenAI API credits
- Third place: US$5,000 in OpenAI API credits
On top of that, every member of the top five teams receives one year of ChatGPT Pro. Registration is open now and closes on Friday, 6 November 2026, so there is about a month to pull a team together and sign up through the official registration form.
Part of a wider push across Southeast Asia
The Malaysia edition is one stop in a regional series that grew out of Sea adopting Codex across its own engineering teams. It started in Singapore in June, continued in Taiwan, and has editions lined up for Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand as it moves across the Asia Pacific region.
"AI creates the most value when it is applied with purpose and shaped by a clear understanding of how people live and work," said David Chen, Co-Founder of Sea and Chief Product Officer at Shopee. For Malaysia, which has set a goal of becoming an AI Nation by 2030, events like this are part of building a local base of developers who can ship AI products rather than just talk about them.
It also lands as OpenAI deepens its presence in the country. The company recently anchored two new AI data centres in Malaysia's RM95.8 billion build-out, and local teams have been leaning into OpenAI's agent tools even as the technology is still finding its feet.
Worth a look if you build with AI
For anyone in Malaysia who already tinkers with AI, a one-day event with hands-on help from Sea and OpenAI engineers, plus a shot at OpenAI credits, is a low-cost way to test an idea and meet other builders. The harder part may be deciding which unmet need to solve before registration closes on 6 November.
