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LAS VEGAS, Aug. 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Offensive security firm Theori has taken third place at the finals of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) AI Cyber Challenge. The $1.5 million prize was awarded at DEF CON 33 in Las Vegas, one of the world's most influential cybersecurity conferences.
The AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) is a competition led by DARPA and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). It tasks elite security researchers with creating artificial intelligence that can automatically find and repair security flaws in the world's most critical open-source software.
Theori's AI system, "Robo Duck," earned its top-tier ranking among seven elite finalists from leading academic and commercial institutions. In the final evaluation, the system autonomously identified a total of 34 vulnerabilities in real-world software, operating entirely without human intervention. Notably, this included zero-day vulnerabilities, critical flaws completely unknown to developers and for which no defense exists.
This achievement follows Theori's dominant first-place victory in the 2024 semifinals, where the team won a $2 million prize from a field of over 100 teams.
"This represents a pivotal moment in securing the software that powers our world," said Brian Sejoon Pak, CEO of Theori. "By automatically finding zero-day vulnerabilities in this competition, our work proves that the combination of deep offensive security expertise and advanced AI is already delivering critical security results today, addressing complex flaws that were previously impossible to solve at scale."
Adding to the achievement, Theori also secured victory in the renowned DEF CON Capture the Flag (CTF) competition, marking their ninth total victory and a record-setting fourth win in a row. At DEF CON, the company was also awarded Best Privilege Escalation at the 2025 Pwnie Awards — the "Tonys" of cybersecurity — for its discovery of CVE-2024-50264, a critical Linux kernel vulnerability that could grant attackers root privileges. The team's repeated dominance in the CTF, along with recognition for impactful vulnerability research, demonstrates a level of human expertise that the company has now proven it can translate into its AI-powered system.
In line with DARPA's commitment to the community, Theori's system will be released as open source to improve access to advanced cybersecurity tools. More details on the "Robo Duck" system are available at: https://theori-io.github.io/aixcc-public
About Theori
Theori is a pioneering cybersecurity firm based in Austin, Texas, specializing in offensive security research, red teaming, and AI-driven security solutions. Trusted by over 100 global organizations including Google, Microsoft, and Okta, Theori's automated security platform enables continuous vulnerability detection at scale, making enterprise-grade security accessible to organizations of all sizes. With a team of world-class hackers, the company provides unparalleled expertise in identifying and addressing complex security challenges to help organizations strengthen their security posture.
LAS VEGAS, Aug. 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Offensive security firm Theori has taken third place at the finals of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) AI Cyber Challenge. The $1.5 million prize was awarded at DEF CON 33 in Las Vegas, one of the world's most influential cybersecurity conferences.
The AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) is a competition led by DARPA and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). It tasks elite security researchers with creating artificial intelligence that can automatically find and repair security flaws in the world's most critical open-source software.
Theori's AI system, "Robo Duck," earned its top-tier ranking among seven elite finalists from leading academic and commercial institutions. In the final evaluation, the system autonomously identified a total of 34 vulnerabilities in real-world software, operating entirely without human intervention. Notably, this included zero-day vulnerabilities, critical flaws completely unknown to developers and for which no defense exists.
This achievement follows Theori's dominant first-place victory in the 2024 semifinals, where the team won a $2 million prize from a field of over 100 teams.
"This represents a pivotal moment in securing the software that powers our world," said Brian Sejoon Pak, CEO of Theori. "By automatically finding zero-day vulnerabilities in this competition, our work proves that the combination of deep offensive security expertise and advanced AI is already delivering critical security results today, addressing complex flaws that were previously impossible to solve at scale."
Adding to the achievement, Theori also secured victory in the renowned DEF CON Capture the Flag (CTF) competition, marking their ninth total victory and a record-setting fourth win in a row. At DEF CON, the company was also awarded Best Privilege Escalation at the 2025 Pwnie Awards — the "Tonys" of cybersecurity — for its discovery of CVE-2024-50264, a critical Linux kernel vulnerability that could grant attackers root privileges. The team's repeated dominance in the CTF, along with recognition for impactful vulnerability research, demonstrates a level of human expertise that the company has now proven it can translate into its AI-powered system.
In line with DARPA's commitment to the community, Theori's system will be released as open source to improve access to advanced cybersecurity tools. More details on the "Robo Duck" system are available at: https://theori-io.github.io/aixcc-public
About Theori
Theori is a pioneering cybersecurity firm based in Austin, Texas, specializing in offensive security research, red teaming, and AI-driven security solutions. Trusted by over 100 global organizations including Google, Microsoft, and Okta, Theori's automated security platform enables continuous vulnerability detection at scale, making enterprise-grade security accessible to organizations of all sizes. With a team of world-class hackers, the company provides unparalleled expertise in identifying and addressing complex security challenges to help organizations strengthen their security posture.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Theori Wins $1.5 Million Prize at DARPA's AI Cyber Challenge
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Agreement Calls for Over 100,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) across 3 Years
GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Varaha, a leading developer of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects with smallholder farmers across Asia, today announced a major offtake agreement with Microsoft for biochar carbon removal in India.
Varaha will develop 18 industrial gasification reactors that will operate for 15 years, with a total projected removal volume exceeding 2 million tonnes of CO₂ over the project's lifetime.
The project sources cotton stalks from smallholder farms in Maharashtra, India for use as the feedstock for biochar production. After harvest, these stalks are treated as waste biomass, and open-field burning is a common practice across the region's cotton belt. This project provides an alternative use for the stalks, converting them into biochar through Varaha's biomass gasification facilities and sequestering biogenic carbon for centuries.
Delivering Local Impact
Varaha's biochar project also delivers measurable benefits for farmers and communities:
- Improvement in Air Quality: The project mitigates the widespread burning of cotton crop residue, significantly reducing PM 2.5 pollutants that contribute to poor air quality. By providing an economically viable alternative to field burning, the initiative tackles a major source of seasonal air pollution.
- Promotion of Regenerative Agriculture: Farmers participating in the program adopt regenerative practices like crop residue mulching and biochar application to soils, improving soil health, water retention, and long-term agricultural productivity.
- Lifting Farmer Livelihoods: The program directly enhances the livelihoods of thousands of smallholder farmers, who receive payment both for contributing agricultural biomass and for implementing crop residue incorporation practices.
"This agreement demonstrates that high-integrity carbon removal can drive transformative co-benefits for communities and ecosystems," said Madhur Jain, Varaha CEO. "We're not just removing carbon—we're creating economic incentives for farmers to mitigate open burning of crop residues."
The project's first reactor will operate alongside Varaha's 52-acre cotton research farm in Maharashtra, where Varaha works directly with farmers to test sustainable practices, including soil application of biochar, under real-world conditions. With up to 18 total reactors funded across India's cotton belt through Microsoft's commitment, the focus remains clear: scaling quickly while putting farmers first.
Setting New Standards for Asian Carbon Markets
The agreement signals growing recognition of the region's potential for high-quality carbon removal projects. Biochar offers permanent carbon storage on geological timescales while supporting agricultural systems, making it one of the most promising pathways for durable carbon dioxide removal.
"This offtake agreement broadens the diversity of Microsoft's carbon removal portfolio with Varaha's biochar project design that is both scalable and durable. It represents a step forward in scaling biochar CDR growth in Asia and advancing co-benefits for farmers—improved soils, cleaner air, and shared economic opportunity," said Phil Goodman, program director, CDR at Microsoft.
The credits generated through the Varaha program meet rigorous standards for measurement, reporting, and verification, ensuring that each tonne represents genuine, permanent carbon removal.
About Varaha
Varaha is a leading developer of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects in Asia, with a mission of scaling smallholder farmer-led climate solutions to remove carbon from the atmosphere and strengthen rural livelihoods. Specializing in regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, biochar, and enhanced rock weathering projects across South Asia, Varaha has pioneered a technology- and science-driven approach to carbon project development since its founding in 2022. Varaha is headquartered in Gurugram, India, and operates 20 carbon projects across India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
Agreement Calls for Over 100,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) across 3 Years
GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Varaha, a leading developer of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects with smallholder farmers across Asia, today announced a major offtake agreement with Microsoft for biochar carbon removal in India.
Varaha will develop 18 industrial gasification reactors that will operate for 15 years, with a total projected removal volume exceeding 2 million tonnes of CO₂ over the project's lifetime.
The project sources cotton stalks from smallholder farms in Maharashtra, India for use as the feedstock for biochar production. After harvest, these stalks are treated as waste biomass, and open-field burning is a common practice across the region's cotton belt. This project provides an alternative use for the stalks, converting them into biochar through Varaha's biomass gasification facilities and sequestering biogenic carbon for centuries.
Delivering Local Impact
Varaha's biochar project also delivers measurable benefits for farmers and communities:
- Improvement in Air Quality: The project mitigates the widespread burning of cotton crop residue, significantly reducing PM 2.5 pollutants that contribute to poor air quality. By providing an economically viable alternative to field burning, the initiative tackles a major source of seasonal air pollution.
- Promotion of Regenerative Agriculture: Farmers participating in the program adopt regenerative practices like crop residue mulching and biochar application to soils, improving soil health, water retention, and long-term agricultural productivity.
- Lifting Farmer Livelihoods: The program directly enhances the livelihoods of thousands of smallholder farmers, who receive payment both for contributing agricultural biomass and for implementing crop residue incorporation practices.
"This agreement demonstrates that high-integrity carbon removal can drive transformative co-benefits for communities and ecosystems," said Madhur Jain, Varaha CEO. "We're not just removing carbon—we're creating economic incentives for farmers to mitigate open burning of crop residues."
The project's first reactor will operate alongside Varaha's 52-acre cotton research farm in Maharashtra, where Varaha works directly with farmers to test sustainable practices, including soil application of biochar, under real-world conditions. With up to 18 total reactors funded across India's cotton belt through Microsoft's commitment, the focus remains clear: scaling quickly while putting farmers first.
Setting New Standards for Asian Carbon Markets
The agreement signals growing recognition of the region's potential for high-quality carbon removal projects. Biochar offers permanent carbon storage on geological timescales while supporting agricultural systems, making it one of the most promising pathways for durable carbon dioxide removal.
"This offtake agreement broadens the diversity of Microsoft's carbon removal portfolio with Varaha's biochar project design that is both scalable and durable. It represents a step forward in scaling biochar CDR growth in Asia and advancing co-benefits for farmers—improved soils, cleaner air, and shared economic opportunity," said Phil Goodman, program director, CDR at Microsoft.
The credits generated through the Varaha program meet rigorous standards for measurement, reporting, and verification, ensuring that each tonne represents genuine, permanent carbon removal.
About Varaha
Varaha is a leading developer of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects in Asia, with a mission of scaling smallholder farmer-led climate solutions to remove carbon from the atmosphere and strengthen rural livelihoods. Specializing in regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, biochar, and enhanced rock weathering projects across South Asia, Varaha has pioneered a technology- and science-driven approach to carbon project development since its founding in 2022. Varaha is headquartered in Gurugram, India, and operates 20 carbon projects across India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Varaha Signs Carbon Removal Agreement with Microsoft
