OpenAI is moving deeper into crypto security with the launch of EVMbench, a new testing framework designed to measure how well artificial intelligence can understand and potentially secure smart contracts on Ethereum and similar blockchains.
Smart contracts, self-executing code deployed on blockchains such as Ethereum, support decentralized exchanges, lending protocols and a wide range of on-chain financial applications. Because these contracts are typically immutable once deployed, vulnerabilities can be serious.
EVMbench is OpenAI’s attempt to see if modern AI systems can help prevent these problems. The benchmark was built in collaboration with crypto investment firm Paradigm and is based on real smart contract vulnerabilities previously uncovered through audits and security competitions.
The system measures performance based on three core capabilities: identifying security bugs, exploiting those bugs in a controlled environment, and fixing the vulnerable code without breaking contracts.
OpenAI says the goal is to establish a clear standard for evaluating AI systems in terms of blockchain security, especially as decentralized finance continues to secure billions of dollars in user funds. The commitment to smart contracts is only increasing.
“Smart contracts routinely secure more than $100 billion in open-source crypto assets. As AI agents become better at reading, writing, and executing code, it becomes increasingly important to measure their capabilities in economically meaningful environments, and to defensively encourage the use of AI systems to monitor and strengthen deployed contracts,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post.
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