Microsoft will offer $4 million in rewards in a new hacking event focused on securing cloud and AI, culminating in an in-person event next year.

The claim is that Microsoft runs a new hacking event with $4 million in rewards focused on cloud and AI security, culminating in an in-person event in 2025. True: Microsoft ran such a program (Zero Day Quest) with about $4 million in available rewards focused on cloud and AI, and held the in-person event during 2025. Mostly true: the event happened in 2025 with a minor deviation, such as a reward pool slightly different from $4 million or a somewhat broader scope. Mostly false: the program ran but the in-person event was not held in 2025, or the reward pool was far smaller. False: positive evidence that the event was cancelled or never launched.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Zero Day Quest 2025: $1.6 million awarded for vulnerability research Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) · 6 January 2025 Own record

   “The inaugural event challenged the security community to focus on the highest-impact security scenarios for Copilot and Cloud with up to $4 million in potential awards.”

2. E2 Zero Day Quest 2025: $1.6 million awarded for vulnerability research Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) · 6 January 2025 Own record

   “A select group of researchers then dug in even further in Redmond and online for the live event where they worked on capture-the-flag challenges in Microsoft products, attended social events, and held technical discussions with the Microsoft security teams.”

3. E3 Microsoft announces Zero Day Quest hacking event with big rewards - Help Net Security Help Net Security · 19 November 2024

   “With $4 million in potential rewards, it focuses on driving research in critical areas such as cloud computing and AI.”

4. E4 Microsoft Zero Day Quest 2025 Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) Own record

   “The Onsite Hacking Event is Microsoft’s inaugural security research-focused event and celebration to be hosted onsite at the Microsoft Campus in Redmond, Washington in 2025.”

Independent reporting at launch confirms Zero Day Quest carried $4 million in potential rewards focused on cloud and AI (E3). Microsoft's MSRC blog post, titled "Zero Day Quest 2025" and published under a 2025/04 URL path, repeats the up-to-$4 million pool for Copilot and Cloud (E1). It also describes the in-person live event in Redmond as already held (E2), which fits the event page's statement that the onsite event would take place in Redmond in 2025 (E4). The quotes do not give the exact event date; the title and URL path point to it being held by April 2025.