The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has sued Amazon Web Services, alleging its cloud security technology infringes two university patents.
According to Reuters, MIT filed the case in Massachusetts federal court on 9 October 2026, seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
The dispute concerns physical unclonable function (PUF) technology, which uses a chip’s unique physical characteristics to generate cryptographic keys. Tiny variations introduced during semiconductor manufacturing give individual chips distinctive electrical behaviour, creating a digital fingerprint that security systems can use.
Synopsys says its SRAM PUF technology derives keys from those characteristics on demand, allowing devices to avoid permanently storing secret keys. MIT alleges AWS uses Synopsys-supplied PUF technology that infringes patents based on research by university professor Srinivas Devadas and his co-authors.
Dow Jones Newswires reports that the complaint specifically concerns Synopsys’ static random-access memory PUF technology and alleges customers using it infringe MIT’s patents. The allegations remain untested in court, leaving Amazon facing a potential bill for technology intended to protect its customers’ data.
MIT filed a similar patent lawsuit against Microsoft in Texas in May 2026, and that separate case remains ongoing.
