Vulnerability Discovery and Exploitation Trends in the AI Era
Written by: Robin Grunewald, Supriya Mazumdar, Kelli Vanderlee
Introduction
Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) examines vulnerability disclosure and exploitation statistics to evaluate the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the vulnerability threat landscape. We found that AI is measurably changing not just the pace of vulnerability discovery and exploitation, but also the types and typical risk profiles of vulnerabilities that are being discovered.
Key findings:
- Vulnerability disclosures doubled: the number of vulnerabilities disclosed per month doubled, rising from 5,045 in January 2026 to 10,477 in July and continuing to climb to 10,740 in August 2026.
- Vulnerability exploitation nearly doubled: the number of vulnerabilities exploited increased from an average of 10.5 per month in 2025 to an average of 18 per month from January 2026 to August 2026.
- Zero-day exploitation increased marginally:zero-day vulnerability exploitation grew from an average of 8 per month in 2025 to an average of 11 per...
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