Project Lightwell establishes a trusted enterprise clearinghouse for open source software with a new AI-driven model for securing the software supply chain
ARMONK, N.Y., May 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Red Hat today announced Project Lightwell, a $5 billion commitment backed by new frontier AI capabilities and a global force of more than 20,000 engineers to help enterprises secure open source software. Together, these investments establish a new model for enterprise use of open source software, from upstream development through production environments.
Project Lightwell will establish a trusted enterprise clearinghouse combined with a global force of engineers to identify and fix vulnerabilities at scale. The clearinghouse will serve as a security coordination layer, using advanced AI capabilities to validate and test fixes across an unprecedented volume of open source code. These capabilities will be offered through commercial subscriptions, allowing enterprises to integrate secure patches directly into their existing software supply chains with enterprise-grade validation and lifecycle management.
Open source software underpins modern enterprise infrastructure, with more than 90% of Fortune 500 companies relying on OSS 1. At the same time, advances in frontier AI are accelerating vulnerability discovery and exploitation. Anthropic recently reported that its Mythos Preview model identified nearly 3,900 high- or critical-severity vulnerabilities in open source software alone 2.
IBM and Red Hat have already begun collaborating with a select group of early adopters on Project Lightwell, including Bank of America, BNY, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JPMorganChase, Mastercard, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada, State Street, Visa and Wells Fargo. The real-world insights from these initial deployments will actively shape how vulnerabilities are identified, validated, and remediated at scale across complex software supply chains.
Project Lightwell builds on IBM and Red Hat's leadership in open source, enterprise AI and security, and incorporates learnings from initiatives such as Anthropic's Project Glasswing and OpenAI's Trust Access for Cyber, with a goal of utilizing new IBM agentic security methods to protect the foundational open source layers that underpin modern enterprise and AI systems.
"Open source is the backbone of today's digital economy and the foundation of modern AI, and we are at an inflection point in how it is built, secured, and scaled," said Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO, IBM. "With Project Lightwell, IBM and Red Hat are helping define a new industry model, one that brings together AI, engineering expertise, and trusted collaboration, to secure open source software at its source and across the entire supply chain. This is about strengthening trust in the systems that power business, government, and society."
Launching a Trusted Open Source Security Clearinghouse
Project Lightwell builds on IBM and Red Hat's proven enterprise open source model, extending it beyond their traditional product footprint. IBM already uses more than 62,000 open source packages, with deep expertise across 10,000. Across technologies like Linux, Java, Kubernetes, Kafka, Ansible, Terraform, Flink, Cassandra and more, the companies operate one of the industry's broadest commercial open source ecosystems, historically providing lifecycle management, validation, and patching for components within their platforms. Now, IBM and Red Hat are applying the same engineering discipline to the broader application landscape, including independent libraries, language toolchains, AI frameworks, and data streaming platforms.
This approach directly addresses the operational vulnerabilities enterprises face when managing independent open source code on their own. Through the clearinghouse model, enterprise organizations can:
- Report and resolve vulnerabilities: Responsibly share sensitive security issues discovered in their active software versions within a trusted intermediary framework.
- Deploy validated patches: Receive patches optimized for production environments, spanning both Red Hat offerings and independent community code.
- Coordinate upstream disclosures: Share fixes upstream so that open source communities can include them in long-term maintenance.
This model allows enterprises to engage IBM and Red Hat to resolve critical security issues while strengthening open source overall through responsible upstream disclosure.
AI-Powered Engineering at Global Scale
At a time when many technology companies are using AI to reduce technical headcount, IBM and Red Hat are taking a different approach, positioning technical engineering capacity as a premium strategic asset and a source of market differentiation.
IBM and Red Hat will deploy a team of more than 20,000 engineers, augmented by advanced AI capabilities. This global technical force will operate across upstream and enterprise environments, focusing on:
- Upstream maintenance alongside open source community leaders;
- High-volume, AI-assisted vulnerability review, triage, and prioritization;
- Secure patch development, dependency hardening, and release engineering.
Project Lightwell supports government priorities to secure digital infrastructure, protect critical systems, and strengthen the overall resilience of open source software ecosystems.
More information about Project Lightwell is available https://www.ibm.com/products/lightwell
1
Source: Worldmetrics; worldmetrics.org/opensource-statistics/
2
Source: Anthropic; anthropic.com/research/glasswing-initial-update
About IBM
IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of governments and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.
Visit www.ibm.com for more information.
About Red Hat
Red Hat is the open hybrid cloud technology leader, delivering a trusted, consistent and comprehensive foundation for transformative IT innovation and AI applications. Its portfolio of cloud, developer, AI, Linux, automation and application platform technologies enables any application, anywhere—from the datacenter to the edge. As the world's leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions, Red Hat invests in open ecosystems and communities to solve tomorrow's IT challenges. Collaborating with partners and customers, Red Hat helps them build, connect, automate, secure and manage their IT environments, supported by consulting services and award-winning training and certification offerings.
Media Contacts
Stephanie Wonderlick
Red Hat
swonderl@redhat.com
Kate Lehman
IBM
Kate.lehman@ibm.com
** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
IBM and Red Hat Commit $5 Billion to Redefine the Future of Open Source in the AI Era
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One Brain, Multiple Embodiments: 130,000 Pudu Robots Now Operating Across 80+ Countries and Regions
MACAO, May 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Pudu Robotics, a global leader in commercial service robotics, is showcasing its latest robotics innovations at BEYOND Expo 2026, one of Asia's leading technology and innovation events focused on the convergence of AI and the physical world. Alongside the exhibition, Felix Zhang, Founder and CEO of Pudu Robotics, participated in a featured fireside chat at the opening ceremony, discussing robotics entrepreneurship, global expansion, embodied AI, and the future evolution of humanoid robotics.
As robotics and AI continue converging across real-world industries, Pudu Robotics is demonstrating how robotics systems are evolving beyond single-task automation toward more adaptive deployment across commercial, industrial, and service environments.
During the fireside chat, Felix shared his perspectives on several key industry topics:
- The next phase of robotics competition will be defined by the integration of AI models, robotic mobility, real-world deployment capabilities, and scalable commercialization, rather than hardware alone.
- In global expansion, Pudu adopts a breadth-first strategy, entering multiple markets simultaneously before deepening operations in high-performing regions, while emphasizing long-term commitment and localized presence to build customer trust in B2B robotics.
- The physical AI sector is entering a clearer development phase, with large-scale commercialization dependent on continued advancements in generalization capabilities, large-scale real-world data accumulation, and the availability of accessible, general-purpose robotic products for broader deployment.
- To support this direction, Pudu Robotics has introduced its embodied intelligence foundation model PuduFM 1.0 and the general embodied AI agent platform PuduAgent, strengthening the integration of AI models, autonomous mobility, and real-world task execution.
- Built on its "One Brain, Multiple Embodiments" architecture, Pudu is accelerating the transfer of AI capabilities across multiple robotic form factors and deployment scenarios, advancing a multi-form ecosystem comprising specialized robots, semi-humanoid robots, and humanoid robots, each optimized for different environments and applications.
At BEYOND Expo 2026, Pudu Robotics is showcasing a broad portfolio spanning commercial cleaning robots, industrial delivery robots, and its quadruped robot PUDU D5, highlighting the company's continued expansion from commercial service robotics into broader intelligent robotics applications.
Visitors attending BEYOND Expo 2026 are invited to visit Pudu Robotics at:
- Booth: Hall A-C, K03
- Date: May 28–30, 2026
- Venue: The Venetian Macao Cotai Expo
As AI increasingly moves from digital systems into physical-world deployment, Pudu Robotics continues expanding its global footprint while accelerating the commercialization of intelligent robotic technologies across increasingly diverse real-world scenarios.
About Pudu Robotics
Pudu Robotics, a global leader in the commercial service robotics sector, is dedicated to empowering easier work and better lives through AI and robotics, with a vision of building a global intelligent robotics infrastructure that serves 10 billion people worldwide.
Built on three core technologies—mobility, manipulation, and AI—Pudu Robotics has pioneered an industry-first "One Brain, Multiple Embodiments" architecture, establishing a comprehensive product portfolio that includes specialized, semi-humanoid, and humanoid robots.
Currently, Pudu offers four major product lines: service delivery, commercial cleaning, industrial delivery and general embodied AI. Its solutions are widely deployed across industries such as retail, hospitality, manufacturing and industrial facilities, food and beverage, real estate and property services, healthcare, entertainment and sport, education, and public services.
To date, Pudu Robotics has shipped over 130,000 units globally, with a presence in more than 80 countries and regions.
One Brain, Multiple Embodiments: 130,000 Pudu Robots Now Operating Across 80+ Countries and Regions
MACAO, May 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Pudu Robotics, a global leader in commercial service robotics, is showcasing its latest robotics innovations at BEYOND Expo 2026, one of Asia's leading technology and innovation events focused on the convergence of AI and the physical world. Alongside the exhibition, Felix Zhang, Founder and CEO of Pudu Robotics, participated in a featured fireside chat at the opening ceremony, discussing robotics entrepreneurship, global expansion, embodied AI, and the future evolution of humanoid robotics.
As robotics and AI continue converging across real-world industries, Pudu Robotics is demonstrating how robotics systems are evolving beyond single-task automation toward more adaptive deployment across commercial, industrial, and service environments.
During the fireside chat, Felix shared his perspectives on several key industry topics:
- The next phase of robotics competition will be defined by the integration of AI models, robotic mobility, real-world deployment capabilities, and scalable commercialization, rather than hardware alone.
- In global expansion, Pudu adopts a breadth-first strategy, entering multiple markets simultaneously before deepening operations in high-performing regions, while emphasizing long-term commitment and localized presence to build customer trust in B2B robotics.
- The physical AI sector is entering a clearer development phase, with large-scale commercialization dependent on continued advancements in generalization capabilities, large-scale real-world data accumulation, and the availability of accessible, general-purpose robotic products for broader deployment.
- To support this direction, Pudu Robotics has introduced its embodied intelligence foundation model PuduFM 1.0 and the general embodied AI agent platform PuduAgent, strengthening the integration of AI models, autonomous mobility, and real-world task execution.
- Built on its "One Brain, Multiple Embodiments" architecture, Pudu is accelerating the transfer of AI capabilities across multiple robotic form factors and deployment scenarios, advancing a multi-form ecosystem comprising specialized robots, semi-humanoid robots, and humanoid robots, each optimized for different environments and applications.
At BEYOND Expo 2026, Pudu Robotics is showcasing a broad portfolio spanning commercial cleaning robots, industrial delivery robots, and its quadruped robot PUDU D5, highlighting the company's continued expansion from commercial service robotics into broader intelligent robotics applications.
Visitors attending BEYOND Expo 2026 are invited to visit Pudu Robotics at:
- Booth: Hall A-C, K03
- Date: May 28–30, 2026
- Venue: The Venetian Macao Cotai Expo
As AI increasingly moves from digital systems into physical-world deployment, Pudu Robotics continues expanding its global footprint while accelerating the commercialization of intelligent robotic technologies across increasingly diverse real-world scenarios.
About Pudu Robotics
Pudu Robotics, a global leader in the commercial service robotics sector, is dedicated to empowering easier work and better lives through AI and robotics, with a vision of building a global intelligent robotics infrastructure that serves 10 billion people worldwide.
Built on three core technologies—mobility, manipulation, and AI—Pudu Robotics has pioneered an industry-first "One Brain, Multiple Embodiments" architecture, establishing a comprehensive product portfolio that includes specialized, semi-humanoid, and humanoid robots.
Currently, Pudu offers four major product lines: service delivery, commercial cleaning, industrial delivery and general embodied AI. Its solutions are widely deployed across industries such as retail, hospitality, manufacturing and industrial facilities, food and beverage, real estate and property services, healthcare, entertainment and sport, education, and public services.
To date, Pudu Robotics has shipped over 130,000 units globally, with a presence in more than 80 countries and regions.
** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
Pudu Robotics Founder & CEO Felix Zhang at BEYOND Expo 2026: Globalizing Physical Al: Building a Multi-Billion Dollar Robotics Powerhouse from Shenzhen
