Zero Day Initiative - Announcing Pwn2Own Berlin for 2026

"Last year, we added Artificial Intelligence as a category with great results. This year, we're expanding this and splitting it into multiple different categories: AI Databases, Coding Agents, Local Inferences, and a separate category for NVIDIA products."

"The folks from AWS wanted to get into the fray as well, so they stepped up to co-sponsor this year's event, which allows us to increase the reward for bugs in Firecracker. Of course, we have all of the returning categories as well, including web browsers, containers, servers, virtualization, and operating systems."

"There's more than $1,000,000 in cash and prizes available for contestants. Last year, we awarded $1,078,750 for 28 unique 0-days over the three-day event. We'll see if we can eclipse those numbers in 2026."

Pwn2Own, a cybersecurity competition, is returning to Berlin for its second iteration in 2026. The event has significantly expanded its scope, particularly in artificial intelligence with four dedicated AI categories: AI Databases, Coding Agents, Local Inferences, and NVIDIA-specific products. AWS has joined as a co-sponsor, enabling increased rewards for Firecracker vulnerabilities. The competition maintains traditional categories including web browsers, containers, servers, virtualization, and operating systems. With 31 targets across 10 categories and over $1,000,000 in total prizes available, the event aims to surpass last year's achievement of awarding $1,078,750 for 28 unique zero-day exploits. Registration closes May 7, with the competition beginning May 14.

Read at Zero Day Initiative