Fortune Tech: “Google’s Threat Intelligence Group said Monday that it was able to stop an effort by hackers to use AI to “plan a mass vulnerability exploitation operation.” According to Google, the hackers used an AI model to find, then exploit, a zero-day vulnerability, the name for a software flaw that developers aren’t yet aware of. Google said its “proactive counter discovery” may have prevented the operation from occurring. The company added that it doesn’t believe its own Gemini model was used. It is widely expected that AI will be used by threat actors, as they’re known, to sow chaos. In April, for example, Anthropic delayed the rollout of its powerful Mythos model because it was concerned that the baddies would use it to exploit software vulnerabilities before they’re patched. (Anthropic has since released the model in a limited fashion to allow those long-extant bugs to be squashed.) In its latest report, Google’s TIG confirmed that threat actors are using AI and AI agents to find vulnerabilities and exploit them, create obfuscation networks and decoy logic to evade detection, autonomously orchestrate attacks, and fabricate digital consensus using synthetic media. The group added that there’s notable activity among actors associated with China and North Korea. “As organizations continue integrating large language models (LLMs) into production environments,” Google said, “the AI software ecosystem has emerged as a primary target for exploitation.”

Google Threat Intelligence Group – Threat Tracker – Executive Summary – “Since our February 2026 report on AI-related threat activity, Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has continued to track a maturing transition from nascent AI-enabled operations to the industrial-scale application of generative models within adversarial workflows. This report, based on insights derived from Mandiant incident response engagements, Gemini, and GTIG’s proactive research, highlights the dual nature of the current threat environment where AI serves as both a sophisticated engine for adversary operations and a high-value target for attacks. We explore the following developments…”

See also New York Times Gift Article – Google Says Criminal Hackers Used A.I. to Find a Major Software Flaw – The company said that it had identified, for the first time, hackers using artificial intelligence to discover an unknown bug. The attempted attack represents “a taste of what’s to come,” one expert said.