In Summary. Posted:. 1:31 PM Pacific Daylight Time, October 4th, 2026. Citing a notable increase in AI submissions, Google has temporarily halted its open source bug bounty program until 2022. In 2020, TechCrunch highlighted concerns from cybersecurity professionals who asserted that AI issues presented a significant threat to bug bounty initiatives. It appears that Google’s Open Source Software Vulnerability Rewards Program is facing a problem, in which researchers were compensated for identifying vulnerabilities in the company’s open source software. Google announced on X and the program’s website that the bug bounty program has been put on hold since October 1, with a commitment to release “an update” during the first quarter of 2027. As per Tom’s Hardware, Google’s engineers and open source maintainers were flooded with reports that were either invalid or had false information. The company stated that the halt is due to a substantial increase in automated submissions, most of which are not valid. During this time, individuals are urged to explore Google’s alternative bug bounty programs.
Google froze its open source bug bounty program due to a ‘significant rise’ in AI submissions
- by stefan