<h1>SAS Hackathon Opens Registration for Global AI Competition Through August 31</h1> The fifth annual SAS Hackathon opened registration through August 31, offering data scientists, business analysts, developers, and students opportunities to develop AI skills through practical application. The month-long digital competition runs September 15 through October 10, where global teams collaborate to solve business and social challenges using advanced analytics and AI technologies. Participants access cloud-native platforms, synthetic data generators, and developer environments across industry-specific tracks including banking, healthcare, energy, retail, and public sector. A new individual student track allows academic participants to compete using an analytics simulation game focused on fundraising optimization. The 2024 event attracted 1,731 registrants from over 70 countries, forming 145 teams supported by 110 mentors. Previous winners developed AI solutions addressing real-world problems like misinformation detection. The competition aims to provide hands-on experience, global networking opportunities, and portfolio enhancement for career advancement in data science and AI fields.