AI for vulnerability detection outsmarted white hat hackers.

The AI tool Xbow from the company of the same name topped the table of white hat hackers who discovered and reported the most vulnerabilities in the software of major companies.

Top 10 white hat hackers according to HackerOne. Data: HackerOne. HackerOne offers a platform where companies can test their software and offer rewards for finding bugs. There are open and closed programs. The latter are available by invitation. Xbow participates in both.

The tool helped identify flaws in the systems of Amazon, Disney, PayPal, and Sony Group Corporation.

Co-founder of HackerOne Michiel Prins emphasized that this is the first instance where an AI service has topped the American reputation leaderboard. It measures the number of vulnerabilities found and their significance.

Xbow was founded in January 2024 by former Copilot CEO Oge de Moore. It raised $75 million in a new funding round led by Altimeter Capital with participation from Sequoia Capital and NFDG.

Companies often hire people to test corporate networks for potential vulnerabilities. The procedure lasts several weeks and costs on average $18,000. De Moor intends to sell a product that will allow for regular checks like this.

The co-founder of HackerOne emphasized that vulnerability hunters have long automated part of their work, and in the past two years, AI has become a key tool in their activities. Almost all human experts complement their efforts with artificial intelligence, and some are trying to create a similar Xbow tool.

The problem is that unscrupulous hackers are also using AI algorithms to automate attacks, increase their volume, and reduce costs.

"For the first time, we can hope that defenders will be able to find and eliminate all vulnerabilities before the system fails," emphasized de Moore.

The Xbow algorithm is good at finding typical errors in code, but it poorly understands the flaws in product design logic.

Recall that in May 2025, a new protection mechanism using artificial intelligence was integrated into the Google Chrome browser.