OpenAI hackathon lands in Taiwan: the champion who connects the north, central, and south can win a $5,000 API credit (rules quick look)

OpenAI Global Hackathon Build Week makes its debut with a Taiwan leg, hosted by the local community buildwithharry, running through three cities in one week. On July 13, Taichung and on July 14, Kaohsiung hold free workshops, while on July 19, Taipei wraps it up with a full-day hackathon.
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• Three-city relay: from beginner workshops to a formal showdown
• agentic coding: directing AI to write code
• Free onboarding, real-money showdown, but seats are limited

In the past, if Taiwan developers wanted to join a hackathon officially branded by OpenAI, they usually had to watch from afar—either Silicon Valley or Tokyo—following livestreams online. But this time is different: Build Week is moving its workshops and hackathon together for the first time into Taichung, Kaohsiung, and Taipei, with three events running within a single week.

The theme of the event centers on Codex and the newly launched GPT-5.6. The global submission deadline is set for July 21 at 5:00 PM Pacific Time, and the Taiwan relay across its three stops is exactly a localized demonstration of what is likely the most prominent global showcase in this competition.

Three-city relay: from beginner workshops to a formal showdown

This global event is open to individuals and teams. Topics range from applications, websites, intelligent agents, and games to developer tools and workflows—all count.

On July 13 in Taichung and July 14 in Kaohsiung, each hosts a workshop from 18:30 to 21:30. Just bring a laptop to get started with Codex and go all the way to your own prototype. A 2-minute demo is scheduled along the way— even if you only manage to do half, you can still take the stage. Food is provided on-site and it’s completely free by design, meant to let people who have never touched Codex walk in and get up to speed immediately.

The July 19 Taipei event is the convergence point: teams that you connected with in Taichung or Kaohsiung, and the topics you’ve thought through. That day, everyone gathers to produce results. If you want to participate, you can register via the official website.

agentic coding: directing AI to write code

Hackathon topics open for Taipei include agentic coding, AI-native products, developer tools, domain agents, or ideas brought by participants. a

gentic coding, simply put, is that developers no longer type code line by line. Instead, they give instructions in natural language so the AI agents can plan, write code, test, and fix issues on their own—humans just keep an eye on the direction. AI-native products, simply put, assume from day one that AI is the core engine, not a feature bolted on afterward. domain agents, simply put, are AI agents trained to do one thing in a specific domain—like legal documents or financial reports.

Free onboarding, real-money showdown, but seats are limited

The Taipei hackathon requires review, accepting up to only 30 teams. Teams filled with four people have priority for acceptance. Everyone must register individually, fill in the same team name, and team size ranges from 2 to 4 people. On the event day, submissions include a 1-minute video at 3:00 PM, a final demo at 4:00 PM, and awards at 5:00 PM—the timeline is tightly compressed.

Prize structure: First place can receive $5,000 in OpenAI API credits, second place $2,500, third place $1,000. Attendees who check in on-site can also receive an additional $100 in Codex credits.