DARPA AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) Contest (2023-2025)

A DARPA AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) Contest (2023-2025) is a DARPA R&D project find and fix software vulnerabilities in U.S. infrastructure software.

• Context:
  • It can have ~20M prize money.
  • It can have a ~40M budget.
  • It can result in Software Vulnerability Recognition Systems (for software vulnerability recognition), likely LLM-based software vulnerability recognition systems.
  • It can result in Software Vulnerability Repair Systems (for software vulnerability repair), likely LLM-based software vulnerability repair systems.
  • …
• Example(s):
  • DARPA AIxCC, 2023-08-09.
  • DARPA AIxCC, 2024.
  • DARPA AIxCC, 2025.
  • …
• Counter-Exmaple(s):
  • a similar project under China's New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan (2017-2030), to make China an AI leader by 2030, with a budget of ~13M/year.
• See: Cybersecurity Threat Detection, AI-Driven Cyberwarfare.

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References

2023

• Google Bard
  • QUOTE: The AIxCC is a two-year competition that challenges the nation's top AI and cybersecurity talent to automatically find and fix software vulnerabilities. The competition is designed to accelerate the development of new AI-driven cyber defense tools and techniques. It has a budget of approximately $40 million.
  • The AIxCC is being held in two phases:
    • Phase 1: The first phase of the competition will focus on developing AI-driven tools and techniques for finding vulnerabilities in software. Teams will compete to develop the most accurate and efficient tools.
    • Phase 2: The second phase of the competition will focus on developing AI-driven tools and techniques for fixing vulnerabilities in software. Teams will compete to develop the most effective tools for automatically patching vulnerabilities.
  • The AIxCC is open to teams of all sizes and disciplines. Teams can compete as individuals, as part of a university or research institution, or as part of a private company.

    The AIxCC is a significant investment by DARPA in the field of cybersecurity. The competition is expected to accelerate the development of new AI-driven cyber defense tools and techniques, which will help to protect the nation's critical infrastructure from cyberattacks.

2023

• (2023-08-09). “DARPA AI Cyber Challenge Aims to Secure Nation’s Most Critical Software."
  • QUOTE: New competition challenges the nation’s top AI and cybersecurity talent to automatically find and fix software vulnerabilities, defend critical infrastructure from cyberattacks

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