Google's AI 'Big Sleep' Thwarts Cyberattack in Historic First, Says Sundar Pichai

• Google's AI agent Big Sleep detected and foiled an imminent SQLite exploit, marking a historic first.
• Sundar Pichai confirms proactive AI defense; Big Sleep stops cyberattack before execution, signaling cybersecurity's AI era.

In a major cybersecurity breakthrough, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced on that the company's AI agent, Big Sleep, successfully identified and thwarted a cyber exploit before it could be deployed, a first-of-its-kind achievement for AI in threat prevention.

"News from our security teams: Big Sleep, our AI agent, assisted us in detecting and foiling an imminent exploit. "We believe this is a first for an AI agent, but certainly not the last, giving cybersecurity defenders new tools to stop threats before they spread," Pichai wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

A new era for cybersecurity?

This could be a watershed moment in cybersecurity, as AI moves from passive defense (identifying threats after a breach) to proactive interdiction.

Also Read: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Applauds AI Rival Meta Following Llama 4 Launch

What is next for 'Big Sleep'?

Google has not said when Big Sleep was deployed or how long it has been operational. However, according to Sundar Pichai's post, this is only the beginning of more AI-powered defense tools that will be used throughout Google's ecosystem and made available to cloud clients.

This incident also raises questions about how governments, businesses, and cloud service providers will work together with AI to stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated threat actors.

As cyberattacks become more common and damaging, the use of advanced AI like Big Sleep may become the norm across global IT defenses.