Kazakhstan hosted the international HackAlem AI hackathon for the first time — and immediately broke a world record. Around 2,500 participants from 21 countries gathered in Astana. The competition set a Guinness World Records title, surpassing the previous record established in India. Organizers say the achievement is a milestone for Kazakhstan’s entire technology community and demonstrates the country’s strong potential. HackAlem AI is about more than records. It is also about developing AI solutions to address real-world challenges in business and government. Participants, including students and young professionals, had five hours to develop their solutions. The challenges covered ten areas, from energy and finance to education, logistics, and trade. To help participants work with cutting-edge technologies, they were given access to tools from OpenAI and NVIDIA. Arizona State University also provided additional educational resources.
«We chose the area that was closest to what we already had – Management. People can find themselves in different emergency situations and may need to call the police, an ambulance, or the fire department. So, we brought all these services together in a single app. A person opens the app, selects the emergency service they need, describes the incident, and their location is automatically detected. The app already knows where the person is and sends the information to the operator. The operator then forwards it to the dispatcher through the website,» said Olzhas Amankeldin, a Nazarbayev University student.
The work, however, doesn't end with creating prototypes. The most promising projects will have a chance to move on to pilot implementation. The creators of the best AI solutions will share a $200,000 prize pool. The winners will be announced on a major technology stage. The official awards ceremony will take place as part of the international AI & Digital Bridge 2026 forum.
«This is the first event of AI MONTH, taking place in Kazakhstan. Today, AI and computing power are effectively the new oil – new resources that we can export not simply as commodities. We are already exporting knowledge that helps advance AI not only in our region, but around the world. On October 1, we will select the best solution. The winner will receive not only a cash prize, but also an opportunity to deploy their AI agent solutions at the enterprises of these companies,» said Asset Abdualiyev, CEO of Silkroad Innovation Hub.
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