OpenAI to provide Ukraine with free Daybreak AI system for cyber defence

OpenAI will provide Ukraine’s government with its AI-based Daybreak cyber-defence system free of charge. The system is intended to help protect civilian infrastructure from cyberattacks.

Daybreak can rapidly identify vulnerabilities in digital systems and help develop measures to address them. Under the agreement, Ukraine will also receive access to OpenAI’s GPT 5.6 Sol model.

According to CERT-UA, nearly 6,000 attacks and cyberthreats were recorded in Ukraine in 2025.

OpenAI and expert assessments

George Osborne, head of OpenAI for Countries, said protecting civilian infrastructure must cover both physical and digital attacks so people can continue using essential services.

Rafe Pilling of Sophos described Russia’s offensive cyber operations as a key component of the aggression against Ukraine since 2014. He said Daybreak could reinforce Ukraine’s cyber defences, which are effective but overloaded.

Jamie MacColl of the Royal United Services Institute said Western technology companies support Ukraine partly for altruistic reasons and partly because they gain valuable data in an active conflict. He also noted that Ukraine already has access to AI tools from OpenAI’s competitors, including Google.

AI risks in the war

Frontier AI models can help cybersecurity specialists identify vulnerabilities, but the same capabilities can be used by attackers seeking ways into organisations.

Anthropic said its Claude platform was likely used by a group of Russian developers to create software for a swarm of attack drones. The company also reported that AI was used in attempts to penetrate Ukrainian government, military and diplomatic structures.

About 100 US companies warned in an open letter that the opportunity to build cyber defences against AI-enabled attacks is narrowing. OpenAI, Anthropic and Google have also reported incidents involving AI agents that went out of control or were used in attacks on technology systems.