AI changes the economics of vulnerability research
The October campaign cost $1,213,430 in API credits, averaging $1,279 per distinct LPE exploit created, OpenAI said.
OpenAI compared its research expenditure with historical Linux kernel vulnerability bounty rewards offered by the Pwn2Own and TyphoonPWN hacking competitions, which have paid $20,000 to $70,000 for LPE exploits. Based on those numbers, OpenAI estimated the value of the 948 exploits it created at between $18.9 million and $66.3 million, or 16 to 55 times the pipeline’s cost. The comparison does not represent actual bounty payouts or establish that every finding would qualify for those rewards.
The latest campaign identified five times more unique LPE vulnerabilities than an earlier experiment using GPT-5.6 Sol, despite three months of additional hardening of the Linux kernel between the scans, OpenAI said. It also reported that its agents used at least 10 novel Linux exploitation techniques based on its analysis of a sample of 166 of the exploits.
