OpenAI Gives Ukraine Access to Daybreak AI Cyber-Defense Tool

OpenAI announced that it has granted Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation access to Daybreak, the company's AI system designed to locate, validate and verify fixes for software vulnerabilities. The announcement was made on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly by Dmytro Kushneruk, Ukraine's Consul General in San Francisco, together with Sasha Baker, OpenAI's head of national security policy. Daybreak runs on OpenAI's large language model GPT-5.6 Sol and is built to read code, identify weak points in aging systems, assess whether a flaw is actually exploitable, and confirm that a patch closes the vulnerability before it is deployed. OpenAI has previously given access to cyber agencies in France, Germany and Poland; Poland's CERT Polska used the system to find six router vulnerabilities that were later patched by the vendor. The move follows OpenAI's September 3 pledge to provide $1 billion in subsidized Daybreak access to under-resourced defenders worldwide, with the company saying it would expand the program to "partner countries" within weeks. Ukraine's access, announced roughly three weeks after that pledge, is the first clear example of that expansion in action. The donation comes amid a sharp rise in cyberattacks against Ukrainian targets: the country's CERT-UA handled nearly 6,000 incidents in 2025, a 37% increase from 2024, with local governments and government agencies among the hardest hit. OpenAI framed the access as support for Ukraine's cyber defenders; outside analysts note that providing tools in an active conflict zone can also deliver operational intelligence and experience back to technology firms. OpenAI's engagement with military and wartime partners marks a change from its earlier public policy. As recently as January 2024, the company had a blanket ban on military and warfare activity in its usage policy; that restriction was removed in early January 2024, shortly before OpenAI executives confirmed the company was already collaborating with U.S. defense agencies on cybersecurity tools.