ARMONK, N.Y., Could 28, 2026 — IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Purple Hat right now introduced Venture Lightwell, a $5 billion dedication backed by new frontier AI capabilities and a worldwide pressure of greater than 20,000 engineers to assist enterprises safe open supply software program. Collectively, these investments set up a brand new mannequin for enterprise use of open supply software program, from upstream improvement by way of manufacturing environments.
Venture Lightwell will set up a trusted enterprise clearinghouse mixed with a worldwide pressure of engineers to determine and repair vulnerabilities at scale. The clearinghouse will function a safety coordination layer, utilizing superior AI capabilities to validate and check fixes throughout an unprecedented quantity of open supply code. These capabilities will likely be provided by way of industrial subscriptions, permitting enterprises to combine safe patches instantly into their present software program provide chains with enterprise-grade validation and lifecycle administration.
Open supply software program underpins trendy enterprise infrastructure, with greater than 90% of Fortune 500 firms counting on OSS[1]. On the identical time, advances in frontier AI are accelerating vulnerability discovery and exploitation. Anthropic just lately reported that its Mythos Preview mannequin recognized almost 3,900 high- or critical-severity vulnerabilities in open supply software program alone[2].
IBM and Purple Hat have already begun collaborating with a choose group of early adopters on Venture Lightwell, together with Financial institution of America, BNY, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JPMorganChase, Mastercard, Morgan Stanley, Royal Financial institution of Canada, State Avenue, Visa and Wells Fargo. The true-world insights from these preliminary deployments will actively form how vulnerabilities are recognized, validated, and remediated at scale throughout complicated software program provide chains.
Venture Lightwell builds on IBM and Purple Hat’s management in open supply, enterprise AI and safety, and incorporates learnings from initiatives reminiscent of Anthropic’s Venture Glasswing and OpenAI’s Belief Entry for Cyber, with a purpose of using new IBM agentic safety strategies to guard the foundational open supply layers that underpin trendy enterprise and AI methods.
“Open supply is the spine of right now’s digital economic system and the inspiration of recent AI, and we’re at an inflection level in how it’s constructed, secured, and scaled,” mentioned Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO, IBM. “With Venture Lightwell, IBM and Purple Hat are serving to outline a brand new {industry} mannequin, one which brings collectively AI, engineering experience, and trusted collaboration, to safe open supply software program at its supply and throughout the complete provide chain. That is about strengthening belief within the methods that energy enterprise, authorities, and society.”
Launching a Trusted Open Supply Safety Clearinghouse
Venture Lightwell builds on IBM and Purple Hat’s confirmed enterprise open supply mannequin, extending it past their conventional product footprint. IBM already makes use of greater than 62,000 open supply packages, with deep experience in over 10,000. Throughout applied sciences like Linux, Java, Kubernetes, Kafka, Ansible, Terraform, Flink, Cassandra and extra, the businesses function one of many {industry}’s broadest industrial open supply ecosystems, traditionally offering lifecycle administration, validation, and patching for elements inside their platforms. Now, IBM and Purple Hat are making use of the identical engineering self-discipline to the broader software panorama, together with unbiased libraries, language toolchains, AI frameworks, and information streaming platforms.
This strategy instantly addresses the operational vulnerabilities enterprises face when managing unbiased open supply code on their very own. By means of the clearinghouse mannequin, enterprise organizations can:
- Report and resolve vulnerabilities: Responsibly share delicate safety points found of their lively software program variations inside a trusted middleman framework.
- Deploy validated patches: Obtain patches optimized for manufacturing environments, spanning each Purple Hat choices and unbiased group code.
- Coordinate upstream disclosures: Share fixes upstream in order that open supply communities can embrace them in long-term upkeep.
This mannequin permits enterprises to have interaction IBM and Purple Hat to resolve vital safety points whereas strengthening open supply general by way of accountable upstream disclosure.
AI-Powered Engineering at World Scale
At a time when many know-how firms are utilizing AI to cut back technical headcount, IBM and Purple Hat are taking a unique strategy, positioning technical engineering capability as a premium strategic asset and a supply of market differentiation.
IBM and Purple Hat will deploy a group of greater than 20,000 engineers, augmented by superior AI capabilities. This international technical pressure will function throughout upstream and enterprise environments, specializing in:
- Upstream upkeep alongside open supply group leaders;
- Excessive-volume, AI-assisted vulnerability assessment, triage, and prioritization;
- Safe patch improvement, dependency hardening, and launch engineering.
Venture Lightwell helps authorities priorities to safe digital infrastructure, defend vital methods, and strengthen the general resilience of open supply software program ecosystems.
Extra details about Venture Lightwell is offered https://www.ibm.com/products/lightwell
[1] Supply: Worldmetrics; worldmetrics.org/opensource-statistics/
[2] Supply: Anthropic; anthropic.com/research/glasswing-initial-update
About IBM
IBM is a number one supplier of world hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting experience. We assist purchasers in additional than 175 international locations capitalize on insights from their information, streamline enterprise processes, cut back prices and acquire the aggressive edge of their industries. Hundreds of governments and company entities in vital infrastructure areas reminiscent of monetary providers, telecommunications and healthcare depend on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Purple Hat OpenShift to have an effect on their digital transformations rapidly, effectively and securely. IBM’s breakthrough improvements in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud options and consulting ship open and versatile choices to our purchasers. All of that is backed by IBM’s long-standing dedication to belief, transparency, accountability, inclusivity and repair.
Go to www.ibm.com for extra data.
About Purple Hat
Purple Hat is the open hybrid cloud know-how chief, delivering a trusted, constant and complete basis for transformative IT innovation and AI purposes. Its portfolio of cloud, developer, AI, Linux, automation and software platform applied sciences allows any software, wherever—from the datacenter to the sting. Because the world’s main supplier of enterprise open supply software program options, Purple Hat invests in open ecosystems and communities to resolve tomorrow’s IT challenges. Collaborating with companions and clients, Purple Hat helps them construct, join, automate, safe and handle their IT environments, supported by consulting providers and award-winning coaching and certification choices.
Media Contacts
Stephanie Wonderlick
Purple Hat
swonderl@redhat.com
Kate Lehman
IBM
Kate.lehman@ibm.com