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Four-week jam starts 28 July with support from leading Hong Kong universities and partners
The Sandbox and Animoca Brands today announced Creative Minds Jam #1, Hong Kong, a four-week competition challenging students, developers, and creators to build innovative content creator-centric experiences using Minds by Animoca Brands (“Minds”), a persistent, always-on agentic AI platform. The official community partner of the jam is Open Campus, a community-led DAO that is building the blockchain-powered financial layer for education.
The guiding theme of Creative Minds Jam #1 is "Build What Creators Need Next". With an aggregate of US$10,000 prize pool, the jam invites participants to explore how agentic AI can reshape digital experiences and help address challenges faced by today’s content creators and the broader creator economy, including discoverability, engagement, and workflow efficiency. Winners of the jam will also be considered for the Minds Investment Programme, which has an aggregate allocation of up to US$10 million, subject to the approval of the investment committee of the programme.
Submissions open on 28 July 2026, with a final showcase event in early September. The competition is open to all students, builders, developers, and creators, and no prior AI experience is required. Participants will be free to use any tools, provided that Minds agents are an integral part to their product submissions.
Minds is a persistent AI agent platform designed to reduce complexity while preserving control and customization for both builders and general users. It enables anyone to deploy and direct sovereign, always-on AI agents, known as Minds, without needing to operate local servers or manage hardware or software.
As the official community partner of Creative Minds Jam #1, Open Campus will support participants throughout the four weeks with weekly workshops including core Minds concepts, mentor-led sessions and speaking slots, and open office hours where teams can brainstorm and refine their submissions. Participants will also have access to a dedicated Open Campus community hub for the duration of the jam. Open Campus brings relevant experience to the jam through 18 months of building developer ecosystems for EDU Chain through bootcamps and incubation programmes, along with a 1,000-strong AI creator community.
Creative Minds Jam #1 is also supported by experts and leaders in education, including the Hong Kong Institute of Information Technology (HKIIT), Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI), Index Academy, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design (PolyU Design), and Hong Kong Designers Association (HKDA), alongside industry partners.
Submissions to the jam will be evaluated by a distinguished panel of judges based on creativity, technical execution, user experience, and the innovative use of agentic AI. Judges are drawn from multiple fields including education, technology, and creative industries:
- Ansh Grey, creative director and founder, Axies GreyFox
- Becky Wong, founder, Index Academy
- Prof. Benny Leong, professor of Practice (Design Practice) and director of SD Plus, School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Bowie Lau, managing director, MaGE Group
- Derek Ting, creative director, Random Art Workshop
- Ho-Man Wong, senior lecturer, HKDI
- Jay Leung, founder, Starz Group; vice chairman, HKDA; vice chairman, CIID Hong Kong
- Jonah Lau, project lead and core contributor, Open Campus
- Joyce Yung, visual content creator, producer, and author, Random Art Workshop
- Mohamed Ezeldin, head of Animoca Labs, Animoca Brands
- Ricky Ng, senior lecturer, HKIIT
- Robby Yung, CEO of investments, Animoca Brands; CEO of The Sandbox
- Sébastien Borget, co-founder and ambassador, The Sandbox
- Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman, Animoca Brands
- Yusuf Goolamabbas, chief knowledge officer, Animoca Brands
Commentary from Judges
Sébastien Borget, co-founder and ambassador of The Sandbox, said: “I’m excited to launch Creative Minds Jam #1 to solve real-world creator problems and step into the agentic web while learning new tools. Hong Kong has always been a thriving city where creativity meets rapid adoption of technology, whether it’s Web3, metaverse, or AI. Creative Minds Jam #1 gives students and creators, regardless of their technical background, the chance to explore how agentic AI can transform digital experiences.”
Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, said: "AI agents represent a shift from tools that require technical expertise to collaborators that can adapt to the user. In the creator economy, that means helping more people turn ideas into content, experiences, and businesses with greater speed and flexibility. Creative Minds Jam #1 is an invitation to students and creators in Hong Kong to experiment with these new forms of creative leverage and help shape the future of the agentic web."
Mohamed Ezeldin, head of Animoca Labs, the innovation team within Animoca Brands that is developing Minds, said: “One of the biggest opportunities in the agentic web is making it easier for more people to build, experiment, and bring new ideas to life. Creative Minds Jam #1 is about broadening access and giving students, creators, and developers the opportunity to build with Minds using familiar interfaces and accessible tools. Hong Kong has long been a place where creativity and technology move quickly, and I’m excited to see how this generation of builders uses these tools to turn bold ideas into practical experiences and real solutions.”
Ansh Grey, creative director and founder at Axies GreyFox, said: “AI agents will profoundly transform the creator economy, empowering creators to scale their creativity and unlock entirely new forms of value creation. Those who embrace AI today will help shape the future of the digital economy.”
How to apply
Applications to the Creative Minds Jam# 1 will open on 28 July 2026. Visit the Creative Minds page on Dorahack at https://dorahacks.io/hackathon/creativeminds/details to pre-register now.
All participants in the Jam, as well as anyone interested in AI and Minds, are also encouraged to join the official Minds Telegram channel and the Open Campus WhatsApp community hub, where workshop schedules and office hours will be posted.
Timeline
- 28 July: Registration opens
- 30 July: Hong Kong in-person kick-off session
- 28 August: Submission deadline
- September: Showcase event and results announcement
Hong Kong In-Person Kick-Off Event
For local participants, The Sandbox and Animoca Brands will host an in-person workshop with the Minds team at Animoca Brands’ headquarters on 30 July, offering attendees an opportunity to hear from some of the judges and meet with fellow jam participants. For more details and to register for this event, visit Luma.
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About Minds by Animoca Brands
Minds by Animoca Brands is a persistent AI agent platform that removes complexity while preserving full control and customization for both builders and general users. It enables anyone to deploy and direct sovereign, always-on AI agents, called Minds, without having to operate local servers or manage any hardware or software. Learn more at www.hellominds.ai.
About The Sandbox
The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is an immersive metaverse platform in which users play, create, and monetize unique experiences alongside their favorite brands, IPs, and celebrities across gaming, entertainment, music, art, and more. The Sandbox leverages web3 technologies to fully enable end-user creation and creator economies, disrupting existing platforms by providing both Players and Creators with true ownership of their assets, creations, and rewards as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Over 400 partners have joined The Sandbox, including Warner Music Group, Gucci, Ubisoft, Paris Hilton, Attack on Titan, Snoop Dogg, Lacoste, Steve Aoki, The Smurfs, and many more. For more information, please visit www.sandbox.game and follow the regular updates on X, Medium, and Discord.
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands Corporation Limited (ACN: 122 921 813) is a global digital assets leader building and investing in impactful technologies and ecosystems to reimagine future economies through AI and the agentic web. It has received broad industry and market recognition including Fortune Crypto 40, Top 50 Blockchain Game Companies 2025, Financial Times’ High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific, and Deloitte Tech Fast. Animoca Brands is recognized for building digital asset platforms such as the Moca Network, Open Campus, Anichess, and The Sandbox, as well as institutional-grade platforms; providing digital asset services to help Web3 companies launch and grow; and investing in frontier Web3 technology, with a portfolio of over 600 companies and digital assets. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on X, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and TikTok.
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