IBM and Red Hat Invest $5 Billion to Redefine the Future of Open Source in the AI Era

ARMONK, N.Y. - May 28, 2026 - IBM and Red Hat today announced 'Project Lightwell,' a $5 billion investment aimed at strengthening open-source software security by leveraging cutting-edge AI and a global team of over 20,000 engineers. This initiative establishes a new enterprise usage model that supports open source from upstream development to production environments. Project Lightwell combines a trusted enterprise clearinghouse with a global engineering force to identify and remediate vulnerabilities at scale. The clearinghouse acts as a security integration layer, utilizing frontier AI models to verify and test fixes for open-source code at an unprecedented scale. These capabilities will be offered as a commercial subscription, allowing enterprises to integrate secure patches directly into their existing software supply chains under enterprise-grade verification and lifecycle management. Open-source software (OSS) is the foundation of modern enterprise infrastructure, with over 90% of Fortune 500 companies relying on it. Simultaneously, the advancement of AI has accelerated the speed of vulnerability discovery and exploitation. Anthropic recently reported that its Mythos Preview model identified approximately 3,900 high-risk or critical vulnerabilities in open-source software alone. IBM and Red Hat are already collaborating with companies such as Bank of America, BNY Mellon, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Mastercard, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada, State Street, Visa, and Wells Fargo to initiate the deployment of Project Lightwell. Insights gained from these real-world operations will be reflected in the advancement of vulnerability identification, verification, and remediation processes within complex software supply chains. Project Lightwell builds upon the leadership IBM and Red Hat have established in open source, enterprise AI, and security, incorporating insights from initiatives like Anthropic’s Project Glasswing and OpenAI’s Trust Access for Cyber. It also utilizes the latest IBM agentic security methods to protect the open-source layer that supports modern enterprises and AI systems. Arvind Krishna, IBM Chairman and CEO, stated, 'Open source is the foundation of today’s digital economy and the foundation of modern AI. We are at a critical turning point in how it is built, secured, and scaled. With Project Lightwell, IBM and Red Hat are bringing together AI, engineering expertise, and trust-based collaboration to present a new industry model that protects open source from its origin throughout the entire supply chain. This is an effort to strengthen trust in the systems that support businesses, governments, and society.'