K2 Think Hackathon: finalists selected to turn AI ideas into real-world impact

After receiving almost 900 applications from 57 countries around the world, the finalists of the inaugural K2 Think Hackathon have been selected.  

Sixteen teams from around the world will meet in Abu Dhabi for the head-to-head, 48-hour challenge to build the most groundbreaking application powered by K2 Think – a leading open-source system for advanced reasoning. 

Hosted by MBZUAI and organized by the University’s Incubation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC), the event will take place at the Masdar City campus on 7-9 November, with a unique prize at stake: the winning team’s idea will be integrated into the K2 Think app itself, reaching users globally.  

The Hackathon launched in October with an international invitation for innovators, developers, researchers, founders and students to submit their ideas – detailing their problem statement and target users, their use of K2 Think, a proposed demo or experience, and the potential global impact. 

Initially, the number of finalist teams was limited to 10, but due to the quality of entries, there will be 16 teams competing at the event.  

Meet the finalists 

The Hackathon’s finalists represent a diverse mix: from middle school innovators to seasoned professionals; all reimagining what’s possible with K2 Think. The teams are: 

Arete 

Institution/affiliation: MBZUAI
Product: AI performance trainer for learning. 

Arvia 

Institution/affiliation: Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital
Product: AI system for drug repurposing through multimodal biological evidence integration. 

Axiom 

Institution/affiliation: Nazarbayev University
Product: AI tool that verifies and corrects AI-generated mathmatical proofs 

BirdX 

Institution/affiliation: Shady Side Academy Senior School
Product: AI problem generator for STEM education. 

CarePilot 

Institution/affiliation: Cornell University
Product: AI tool that automates healthcare billing, scheduling, and lab explanations. 

EndoMind 

Institution/affiliation: Johns Hopkins University
Product: AI for virtual diabetes doctor, giving real-time personalized edits. 

HPP Casual Foundation for Personalized Care 

Institution/affiliation: MBZUAI
Product: Casual AI system for personalized clinical decisions. 

InstantCanvas 

Institution/affiliation: Technical University of Munich
Product: Voice-controlled tool for instant web design edits. 

Khawa 

Institution/affiliation: New York University Abu Dhabi
Product: AI tool that automates bookings for local small businesses. 

Modulus 

Institution/affiliation: MBZUAI and Khalifa University
Product: No-code AI builder turning data into machine learning models. 

Olive Gaming/K2 Regent 

Institution/affiliation: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)
Product: Strategy game with reasoning-driven AI characters. 

Parallax 

Institution/affiliation: Google Deepmind
Product: Context-aware coding assistant that thinks alongside developers. 

PharmaK2/DynamAI 

Institution/affiliation: Helmholtz Canter for Infection Research
Product: AI tool that extracts and reconstructs PK ODE systems from biomedical text. 

SynapTab 

Institution/affiliation: MBZUAI
Product: AI-powered business insight engine, translating data into business. recommendations 

NanoCrisp/Syntrium AI 

Institution/affiliation: Cranleigh Abu Dhabi
Product: AI beatmaker that teaches and composes music interactively. 

The Liems 

Institution/affiliation: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, MBZUAI, Nanyang Technological University
Product: Real-time copilot for coding education and grading. 

Three days of creation, collaboration, and competition 

The Hackathon begins on Friday, 7 November, with registration, orientation, and an overview of the challenge and judging criteria. 

The following day, teams will enter full “hacking mode,” – building and refining their ideas with the support of IFM mentors and technical experts. 

The competition culminates on Sunday, 9 November, with live demos and presentations before a panel of judges, followed by an award ceremony and networking session celebrating the winning teams. 

Throughout the event, participants will have access to MBZUAI’s state-of-the-art facilities and computing resources, reflecting the University’s commitment to enabling open and deployable AI innovation. 

“What makes this hackathon unique is K2 Think itself,” said Richard Morton, Acting Executive Director of Institute of Foundation Models. “K2 Think’s efficiency means teams can build applications with advanced reasoning that are deployable in the real world. We’re excited to see how K2 Think helps researchers accelerate discoveries, educators personalize learning, and businesses solve complex problems.” 

About K2 Think 

Developed by MBZUAI’s Institute of Foundation Models (IFM) in partnership with G42, K2 Think embodies a new approach to building smarter, more efficient AI. With just 32 billion parameters, it outperforms flagship reasoning models that are 20 times larger – a breakthrough that redefines what is possible with compact architectures. For more information visit k2think.ai.