F5 to acquire AI security firm CalypsoAI for $180 million

F5, a Seattle-based application delivery and security company, announced Thursday it will acquire Dublin-based CalypsoAI for $180 million in cash, highlighting the mounting security challenges enterprises face as they rapidly integrate artificial intelligence into their operations.

The acquisition comes as companies across industries rush to deploy generative AI systems while grappling with new categories of cybersecurity threats that traditional security tools struggle to address. CalypsoAI, founded in 2018, specializes in protecting AI systems against emerging attack methods, including prompt injection and jailbreak attacks.

“AI is redefining enterprise architecture and the attack surface companies must defend,” said François Locoh-Donou, F5’s president and CEO. The company plans to integrate CalypsoAI’s capabilities into its Application Delivery and Security Platform to create what it describes as a comprehensive AI security solution.

Companies are embedding AI into products and operations at an unprecedented pace, but this rapid adoption has created compliance gaps and heightened regulatory scrutiny. CalypsoAI addresses these challenges through what the company calls “model-agnostic” security, providing protection regardless of which AI models or cloud providers enterprises use. 

The platform conducts automated red-team testing against thousands of attack scenarios monthly, generating risk assessments and implementing real-time guardrails to prevent data leakage and policy violations.

“Enterprises want to move fast with AI while reducing the risk of data leaks, unsafe outputs, or compliance failures,” said CalypsoAI CEO Donnchadh Casey. The company’s approach focuses on the inference layer where AI models process requests, rather than securing the models themselves.

The acquisition comes during a flurry of similar moves by established companies in the cybersecurity space that are looking to add AI-powered offerings to their customers. 

F5 has also been active this year with what it considers strategic purchases. The company acquired San Francisco-based Fletch in June and observability firm MantisNet in August, demonstrating a pattern of building capabilities through acquisition rather than internal development.

The deal is expected to close by Sept. 30.