For years, cybersecurity companies have been telling us that artificial intelligence would help defenders stay one step ahead of attackers. The problem is that attackers got access to AI too.
That reality is driving a new partnership between IBM and OpenAI. On Monday, IBM announced it has joined OpenAI’s Daybreak Cyber Partner Program, a new effort aimed at helping organizations use advanced AI models to defend against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
The timing makes sense. As AI tools become more capable, security researchers have warned that hackers can use the technology to find vulnerabilities faster, automate parts of an attack, and scale malicious activity in ways that were previously difficult or impossible. In other words, cyberattacks are starting to happen at machine speed.
IBM believes the answer is to give defenders access to similar technology.
As part of the partnership, IBM launched a new application security service that uses OpenAI’s cyber-focused AI capabilities to identify and validate software vulnerabilities. According to IBM, the service goes beyond traditional code scanning by analyzing application code, highlighting areas most likely to contain flaws, and helping organizations prioritize security risks before attackers can exploit them.
The service operates through IBM Consulting Advantage, the company’s AI platform for consulting services. IBM says the system connects to customer environments in a controlled manner with read-only access to code repositories and bounded execution, allowing organizations to analyze software exposure without handing over direct control of their systems.
The announcement also builds on Project Lightwell, an initiative unveiled earlier this year by IBM and Red Hat. Backed by a $5 billion commitment, the project aims to improve security across the open source software supply chain. IBM says OpenAI’s cyber capabilities, along with other advanced AI models, will help review code, identify weaknesses, and accelerate remediation efforts.
While it’s easy to dismiss announcements like this as another AI partnership press release, there is a legitimate trend underneath the marketing. As attackers increasingly adopt AI tools, security teams are under pressure to respond with automation of their own. Cybersecurity is becoming an AI-versus-AI contest, and companies like IBM and OpenAI want to make sure the defenders aren’t bringing a knife to a gunfight.
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