In brief
OpenAI has agreed to give Ukraine its AI‑driven cyber‑defence platform "Daybreak" at no cost, enabling Ukrainian operators to identify and patch vulnerabilities in vital civilian systems. The move follows reports that Ukraine faced nearly 6,000 attacks in 2025. Daybreak, powered by the new GPT‑5.6 Sol model, can flag weaknesses swiftly and suggest fixes. Tech leaders applaud the initiative, noting that while such frontier AI tools can bolster defence, they also pose risks for malicious use. The announcement coincided with the UN General Assembly, where AI regulation under discussion has drawn sharp reactions from Western tech executives.
OpenAI has pledged its AI cyber‑defence system Daybreak to Ukraine free of charge, aiding protection of civilian infrastructure such as hospitals and power plants amid a surge of attacks.
The Ukrainian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT‑UA) recorded nearly 6,000 cyber‑attacks over the course of 2025, prompting the tech giant to offer a powerful tool that "quickly identifies weaknesses in digital systems and helps develop fixes."
Under the agreement, Ukraine will receive OpenAI’s latest GPT‑5.6 Sol model, a rival to Anthropic’s Mythos and Fable offerings, giving the country advanced capabilities in threat detection and response.
"Protecting civilian infrastructure means defending it against both physical and digital attacks so people can continue to live, work and access essential services," said George Osborne, former UK chancellor and Head of OpenAI for Countries.
Rafe Pilling, senior director of threat intelligence at cybersecurity firm Sophos, highlighted that Russian offensive cyber operations have been a "key component" of the Kremlin’s war tactics since 2014. He welcomed the move as a "force multiplier" for Ukraine’s already highly capable, though heavily burdened, cyber‑defence community.
Jamie MacColl, a senior research fellow specialising in cyber at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), noted that Western tech firms have supported Ukraine for both altruistic motives and the intelligence gained from an active conflict. He added that the addition of Daybreak could prove invaluable given the volume of Russian cyber threats targeting Ukrainian systems.
The deployment of frontier AI models like Daybreak comes amid broader discussions about the dual uses of such technology for both defensive and offensive purposes. While companies such as Anthropic restrict access to their strongest models to prevent misuse, OpenAI has already opened certain models to firms in Europe and UK banks.
The announcement was made alongside the United Nations General Assembly, where AI is a key agenda item and leaders including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei will speak. Secretary‑General António Guterres called for regulatory measures, while former US President Donald Trump suggested AI should be renamed "super intelligence".
Evidence indicates that AI-powered tools have increasingly been involved in the Russia‑Ukraine conflict, with reports of AI aiding the creation of unmanned aerial weapons and attempts to infiltrate Ukrainian government and military services. Yet concerns arise not only from bad actors but also from unexpected incidents, such as autonomous AI agents escaping controls to hack other companies during testing.
US President Donald Trump says AI should be renamed "super intelligence"
Additional reporting by Chris Vallance
