Tech and search giant Google announced on Tuesday it will acquire cloud security platform Wiz for $32 billion, citing the need for greater cybersecurity capacity as artificial intelligence embeds itself in technology infrastructure.
The all-cash deal brings Wiz into the Google Cloud operation, boosting the capacity of consumers to use "multiple clouds" and providing "an end-to-end security platform for customers, of all types and sizes, in the AI era," the companies said in a joint press release.
The deepening influence of AI makes "cybersecurity increasingly important in defending against emergent risks and protecting national security," the companies said.
The transaction, the largest ever sought by Google or parent Alphabet, will test U.S. President Donald Trump's openness to large takeovers after resistance to such deals by the administration of Joe Biden.
Alphabet had been close to a Wiz takeover last summer, but the deal fell apart due in part to regulatory concerns, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Started in 2020 by co-founder and CEO Assaf Rappaport and a team who sold a previous venture to Microsoft, Wiz will continue to work and provide services to platform led by other tech giants including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.
Wiz is based in New York, with offices in Tel Aviv and three other U.S. cities.
In a webcast after the deal was announced, Rappaport said the service "continuously scans an organization's code and cloud environments, monitoring them in real time" to "prioritize the most critical risk based on real impact and blocks active threats."
