Google acquires GraphicsFuzz, a firm which specializes in testing GPU reliability

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Google has acquired GraphicsFuzz to improve GPU reliability within the Android ecosystem. GraphicsFuzz is a firm that specializes in testing GPU reliability by creating graphics driver testing technologies that can be used to find bugs in graphics drivers. The firm then discloses these bugs to GPU vendors, OEMs, or any other involved parties and works with them to patch the issues.

Alastair Donaldson, Hugues Evrard, and Paul Thomson of GraphicsFuzz will be joining Google’s Android Graphics Team “to integrate their graphics driver testing technologies within the Android ecosystem,” according to the announcement posted on their webpage. This acquisition will help Google expose defects in graphics drivers so that they disclose these bugs to GPU vendors. Thanks to Google’s close relationship with their OEM partners, Google can also inform their partners when a critical bug has been discovered and work with them to roll out patches to mitigate any potential damages.

XDA-Developers had the opportunity to work with the GraphicsFuzz team on two separate occasions. First, we worked with the firm to disclose a bug in the Adreno 630’s graphics driver. During their routine testing, the team discovered a bug which could be exploited to trigger a remote reboot on a Samsung Galaxy S9 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 system-on-chip. We also worked with the team when writing an article on how such bugs in graphics drivers are discovered. Users who are interested in testing their own Android smartphone against the firm’s suite of graphics drivers tests can do so on their webpage. For further reading on the work that the team has done, you can read some of their blog posts on Medium.

We congratulate the GraphicsFuzz team on their acquisition by Google. Their work will help ensure that Android devices are kept secure against the latest security vulnerabilities.