AI Hardware Attack Challenge
Participating teams will be tasked with leveraging AI tools, such as LLMs, to insert and exploit hardware vulnerabilities and Trojans in hardware designs. These can include cryptographic accelerators, processors, communication IPs, etc.
Not running this year in: Europe, India, Mexico.
AI Hardware Attack Challenge 2026
This year's competition is running only in the US-Canada region. Teams must consist of currently-enrolled students at universities.
In this year's competition, teams are challenged to use generative AI to both insert hardware Trojans into FPGA-targeted hardware designs as well as demonstrate exploits for these new Trojans. The target of this competition is the Hackster board from Calico Computer, an education-focused device which includes an application microprocessor, an FPGA, and additional peripherals aimed at hardware security education.
Teams will need to reverse-engineer the FPGA bitstream provided for the Hackster board and use that, along with basic integration documentation and tests, to determine how the hardware design works and add a Trojan to it.
A preliminary qualifying round of the competition will take place across two weeks, from 18 September to 2 October. Finalists will be selected by 4 October. These teams will be brought to New York to attend CSAW in-person. The final challenge will be given at CSAW and will take place over 24 hours, where teams will be given access to the physical Hackster boards to both demonstrate their preliminary Trojans and complete the final challenge on the hardware.
All hardware and exploits must be created by generative AI. Deterministic tools may be used alongside the AI, but no human may write the actual hardware design for the Trojan or exploit demonstration.
A full judging rubric will be found on the competition's GitHub repo once the challenge has formally released.
Teams may consist of the following:
- Up to 4 students
- One advisor (can be a graduate student advising undergraduates, or a professor advising graduate students)
Register here.
