Samsung Electronics Among U.S. Government AI Cyber Challenge Finalists

In collaboration with institutions and universities around the world, Samsung Electronics is among the top seven teams to reach the finals of the AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) — a two-year AI-based cybersecurity competition organized by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a research and development institute of the United States Department of Defense.

Samsung formed Team Atlanta — comprised of more than 30 security researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, New York University (NYU), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) as well as Samsung Research, a leading research and development organization within Samsung.

▲ Team Atlanta members pose for a photo.

AIxCC participants compete to detect and mitigate vulnerabilities in large-scale software systems using AI. With a total prize pool of over $20 million, the competition aims to promote the development of new technologies to improve computer code security for social infrastructure systems including transportation, public utilities and healthcare.

The competition is held in conjunction with DEF CON, an annual cybersecurity and hacking conference in Las Vegas. Following the announcement of AIxCC in August 2023, Team Atlanta developed and submitted their cyber reasoning system — before advancing through the semifinals at DEF CON 32 from August 9 to 11, 2024. Securing $2 million in research funds, Team Atlanta will attend the final round at DEF CON 33 in August 2025.

During the semifinal round, Team Atlanta demonstrated its ability to automatically detect security vulnerabilities in large-scale software and apply security patches using their system. Team Atlanta earned significant recognition from organizers as it was the only team out of 39 to discover a genuine vulnerability — not a flaw that had been set up for the competition.

“We will thoroughly prepare for the upcoming final round by diversifying applications of AI and researching programming languages and countermeasures against vulnerabilities,” said Taesoo Kim, Vice President of Samsung Research, who led Team Atlanta.

▲ AIxCC finalists

As cyberattacks become more frequent and complex, the importance of AI technology in security is becoming increasingly evident. By learning from vast amounts of data, AI can analyze and infer from new data to anticipate and respond to security threats. Generative AI, in particular, improves efficiency in the security sector by better understanding software programs and more effectively addressing security threats. As such, the application of AI in security has become a necessity.

Samsung will continue leveraging AI to improve security. Through ongoing research on AI technology that detects vulnerabilities and automates security patches, the company plans to strengthen its competitive edge by increasing product and service reliability.