AI triggers bug hunting arms race

autonomous ai agents are transforming vulnerability discovery by identifying software flaws and generating functional exploits, leading to a surge in bug bounty submissions. security researcher joseph thacker notes he has submitted three times as many bugs this year, estimating that major tech giants may increase payout spending by 200% to 1000%. while this influx currently lowers the barrier to entry for finding 'low-hanging fruit', experts warn it will soon deplete the supply of easy bugs, forcing companies to raise bounties for complex vulnerabilities. furthermore, google researchers observed threat actors using ai tools to bypass two-factor authentication, confirming that ai exploitation capabilities have moved from theoretical to operational.