What is the Internet Bug Bounty program?

Launched in 2012, funded by tech giants, it paid researchers over $1.5M for open-source bugs — 80% new finds, 20% fixes.

Why is the Internet Bug Bounty pausing payouts?

AI's flooding bug reports faster than teams can fix them, shifting the balance from discovery to overwhelmed remediation.

What happens to Node.js bug bounties now?

Node.js still accepts reports via HackerOne but stops paying rewards without Internet Bug Bounty funding.

🔒 Security & Privacy

$1.5 Million Later, Internet Bug Bounty Program Hits Pause on Payouts

$1.5 million. That's what the Internet Bug Bounty program dished out to bug hunters since 2012. Now? Payouts paused, thanks to AI making the game too easy.

theAIcatchup Apr 08, 2026 3 min read

⚡ Key Takeaways

Internet Bug Bounty pauses payouts after $1.5M spent, citing AI overload on open-source fixes. 𝕏
Node.js first hit: no more rewards, though reports accepted. 𝕏
Trend alert: Curl and Google already halted AI-driven submissions. 𝕏

Published by

theAIcatchup

Community-driven. Code-first.

#AI bug hunting #AI vulnerability discovery #HackerOne #Internet Bug Bounty #Node.js bounties #bug bounty #open source security

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Originally reported by InfoWorld

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