News

ACTION at the Annual SaTC PI Meeting

Giovanni Vigna presented an overview of the ACTION AI Institute at the 2024 Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace Principal Investigators’ Meeting (2024 SaTC PI Meeting) on Wednesday, September 4 and Thursday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

ACTION Collaboration with SB High School

On September 10, 2024, Stijn Pletinckx, a PhD candidate in UCSB's Computer Science Department, delivered a lunch-time presentation to students at Santa Barbara Senior High School, formally launching a collaboration between the SBHS Computer Science Academy and the ACTION AI Institute. Stijn's presentation, titled "Hacking for Good: Unlocking Cybersecurity and Ethical Hacking Careers," was meant catalyze the creation of a new student-run, hacking club at the public high school.

Large Language Model Agents, a Massive Open Online Class

In September 2024 ACTION, co-PI Dawn Song (UC Berkeley) will launch a massive open online course (MOOC) focused on Large Language Model Agents. She developed the MOOC with a Research Scientist at Google DeepMind, and has arranged for a dozen guest speakers from leading organizations in the space of AI.

The description from the course website reads: 

Review of ACTION's Annual Review and Knowledge Expo

The ACTION AI Institute held its first annual Knowledge Expo on June 20-21 in UC Santa Barbara's Henley Hall. The Expo included a series of "Birds of a Feather" sessions on topics related to AI and Cybersecurity, poster showcases, and presentations from ACTION faculty, DHS, and local government.  The event also served as the Institute's first annual review. 

ACTION at Summit for Digital Trust

The Center for Digital Trust (C4DT) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) held the Second Annual Summit of Centers for Digital Trust in Glion, Switzerland in August 2024.

UCSB Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

On August 15, 2024, ACTION AI was one of fifteen undergraduate summer research programs across UC Santa Barbara gathered for a research symposium and poster session. In total, there were 65 posters on display, spanning engineering, the sciences, and the social sciences. The symposium marked the end of an eight-week research experience, full of hands-on training, professional development, and networking opportunities for our scholars.

Finalists at the DARPA AI Cyber Challenge

DARPA announced the seven finalists of the AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) at DEFCON 32. Of the nearly 40 teams with submissions, two of the finalist teams have ties to ACTION. Shellphish has their origins at UC Santa Barbara with Giovanni Vigna and many of the team members are current and former members of the UCSB SecLab.

AIVO Grants Available to ACTION Researchers

The AI Institutes Virtual Organization (AIVO) is once again providing additional support to AI institutes through a variety of programs. All institutes, including ACTION, have access to funds that support travel, foreign collaboration, and hosting events for inter-institute community building.