Altman says AI is uncovering existing software vulnerabilities

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said artificial intelligence is helping companies find security vulnerabilities that already exist in their software, rather than creating the underlying problems. He made the remarks during an onstage conversation with Oracle co-CEO Clay Magouyrk.

TechRadar reports that Oracle’s latest quarterly patch addressed around 3,000 software issues, many identified with AI. Oracle has also partnered with OpenAI to help businesses identify vulnerabilities, investigate potential exploits and research fixes.

The partnership includes Oracle AI Security Mesh, a feature that is intended to show supporting evidence such as reproduction steps and test results. That information can help businesses assess false positives and prioritize threats, according to the report.

Altman suggested businesses may need to rethink security strategies, shifting from fixing bugs one at a time toward continuous monitoring. He also said patching every bug individually across the supply chain may be too difficult and that new approaches will be needed. The report notes that AI may accelerate vulnerability discovery for both defenders and attackers.

OpenAI Head of Cyber Johannes Landgraf said frontier AI creates new opportunities to help organizations identify and respond to increasingly sophisticated security threats.