Korea Opens Registration for 2026 AI Cyber Defense Contest
The Ministry of Science and ICT and KISA are recruiting preliminary participants for ACDC 2026 until the 26th, with the online prelims set for October 31.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) have opened registration for the preliminary round of the 2026 AI Cyber Defense Contest (ACDC). According to ZDNet Korea, teams can sign up until the 26th.
The preliminary round will be held online on October 31. The top 40 teams will advance to the finals on December 1 at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas. The finalist pool comprises 20 general teams and 20 student teams, totaling 160 people.
Organizers said a new challenge measuring how effectively an AI's latent capabilities can be drawn out will be added to the finals. Specifics of the new challenge will be revealed later.
Participants must be Korean nationals aged 19 or older and form teams of four.
Second Edition of ACDC
The ACDC was first held in December 2025, when the inaugural event, then called '2025 ACDC,' took place in Korea. That first edition saw Sands Lab present a deepfake detection AI agent. This year marks the contest's second edition.
Quick answers
When is the 2026 ACDC preliminary round?
The preliminary round will be held online on October 31.
Who can participate in the 2026 ACDC?
Participants must be Korean nationals aged 19 or older and form teams of four.
When and where are the 2026 ACDC finals?
The finals will be held on December 1 at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas, with 40 teams (20 general and 20 student teams, 160 people) competing.