IBM and Red Hat will invest $5 billion to protect open source software

IBM and Red Hat intend to use more than 20 thousand engineers around the world and artificial intelligence tools to create a kind of corporate “clearinghouse” for open-source security. It should identify vulnerabilities in large amounts of open source code, verify fixes, and provide companies with solutions ready to implement.

Access to Lightwell capabilities will be provided through a paid subscription. Companies will be able to confidentially report errors and vulnerabilities in their code, receive verified patches and integrate them into their own software products.

IBM says the project will create a new model for working with open source software, from development and testing to operation in an enterprise environment. The company notes that more than 90% of Fortune 500 companies rely heavily on open source software.

IBM associates the relevance of the project with the development of powerful AI models that make it easier to find and exploit vulnerabilities. In particular, Anthropic’s Claude Mythos Preview model, according to IBM, identified about 3,900 serious or critical vulnerabilities in open source software, notes Reuters.

The first participants in the project included large financial companies, including Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Visa and Wells Fargo. Reuters writes that the commercial launch of Lightwell should take place within 30 days.

Since the beginning of 2026, IBM’s capitalization has decreased by 10.8%.