SoftBank Group launched on Tuesday “Patching as a Service,” a new cybersecurity product powered by OpenAI that aims to help protect Japan’s critical infrastructure from increasingly automated AI-driven cyber threats.
The solution, announced by Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group, will support companies with vulnerability assessments, remediation planning and implementation advisory, as cyber risks rise across the networks that underpin essential services.
SoftBank targets weak points before attackers move
The launch comes as attackers increasingly use artificial intelligence to automate cyber operations, scale malicious activity and exploit weaknesses faster than traditional security teams can respond.
SoftBank said vulnerabilities in critical systems can lead to outages, data breaches and service disruptions, creating risks not only for companies but also for the wider public.
The company framed the new product as a response to a security environment where organizations must constantly identify weak points and decide how to address them before attackers move.
Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., warned that AI-powered cyberattacks will become “widespread,” adding that SoftBank is determined to counter them with “state-of-the-art AI.”
Built with OpenAI’s cybersecurity technology
“Patching as a Service” uses OpenAI cybersecurity technologies provided by SB OAI Japan and draws on SoftBank Corp.’s internal security experience to help companies assess vulnerabilities, identify the risks that need faster attention and plan remediation steps.
SoftBank said it had already tested OpenAI’s cyber technologies in a large internal review of its own systems, with its security team identifying potential weaknesses and gaining experience that will feed into the rollout of Patching as a Service.
AI cyber concerns spread from Europe to the U.S. and Japan
SoftBank’s launch comes as risks tied to powerful AI models are moving from warnings into security programs, regulatory reviews and government action.
In May, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said regulators were examining how euro zone banks should defend themselves if AI tools built to find code weaknesses were used by hostile actors. Her warning reflected growing concern that technology designed to help defenders could also allow attackers to find and exploit flaws faster, particularly with state-level computing power.
Later that month, major U.S. banks using Anthropic’s Mythos model reportedly moved to fix weaknesses flagged across their IT systems, while the Pentagon began deploying the same technology to help find and patch software vulnerabilities across government networks.
The concern has since widened into government action. U.S. officials ordered Anthropic to suspend foreign access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5, two of its most advanced models, citing national security concerns over their ability to identify software vulnerabilities.
Anthropic disabled the models more broadly to comply with the order, a move that underscored how quickly advanced AI tools are being treated as both cyber-defense assets and strategic risks.
OpenAI expands its role in cyber defense
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said AI is becoming a key tool for cybersecurity teams as they race to respond to faster, more automated attacks.
“AI is transforming cybersecurity, and we’re focused on building durable programs that help it accelerate defenders. We’re excited to work with SoftBank to deliver the transformational benefits of our cyber models to more organizations in Japan and strengthen the systems all of us rely on.”
The rollout puts SoftBank and OpenAI deeper into one of the most urgent areas of enterprise security, where the same AI technologies helping companies automate operations, scale services and run businesses more efficiently are also forcing them to rethink their security strategies.
