Samsung Electronics has secured first place in the finals of the AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC), a major global competition focused on artificial intelligence security technology. The event was held on August 8 in Las Vegas as part of DEF CON 33, a prominent hacking and security conference.
The AI Cyber Challenge is organized by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which operates under the U.S. Department of Defense. The competition offered a total prize pool of $22.5 million and attracted participation from universities, research institutions, and technology companies worldwide.
Samsung competed as Team Atlanta, a group led by Samsung Research from the Device eXperience (DX) Division. The team included security experts from several universities: Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH).
The contest began in 2023 and lasted two years. Forty-two teams entered the semifinals last year, but only seven advanced to this year’s final round.
“Samsung Electronics was able to achieve meaningful results by demonstrating its AI-based security technology capabilities at a global security technology competition,” said Taesoo Kim, VP of Samsung Research, who led Team Atlanta. “We will continue to expand collaboration with global security experts to further advance Samsung Electronics’ security technology proficiency.”
During the semifinals, Team Atlanta was noted for being the only participant to detect an unintended vulnerability that had not been planned for the event. In the finals, teams were evaluated on their ability to use AI-powered technologies—without human intervention—to analyze source code vulnerabilities and apply patches.
Team Atlanta’s performance earned them first place along with a $4 million prize.
Samsung plans to use this achievement as a foundation for developing new AI-driven security solutions capable of automatically identifying and addressing vulnerabilities in its products and services.
