Palo Alto Networks inks multibillion-dollar AI deal with Google Cloud – News

Palo Alto Networks Inc. will move some of its most important internal workloads to Google LLC’s cloud platform as part of a partnership announced today.

The cybersecurity provider described the project as a multibillion-dollar deal in a press release. According to Reuters, the transaction is worth nearly $10 billion. It comes four months after Google Cloud reportedly inked an even larger contract with Meta Platforms Inc., which will use its platform to run artificial intelligence workloads.

The Palo Alto Networks partnership also places an emphasis on AI. The cybersecurity provider will use Google’s Gemini series of large language models to power the AI agents it ships with its products. Those agents can find vulnerabilities in a company’s cloud applications, troubleshoot network bottlenecks and perform related tasks.

Google Cloud provides access to Gemini models through an offering called the Vertex AI Platform. It’s a broad product suite that includes not only LLM but also development tools optimized for AI projects. After an AI application exits the development phase, companies can use Vertex to monitor its output for accuracy issues.

In addition to adopting the product suite internally, Palo Alto Networks will help customers secure their own Vertex-powered workloads. The effort will center on the Prisma AIRS platform it launched in April. The software can scan a Vertex-powered application for vulnerabilities by simulating hacking attempts. Furthermore, it fends off common AI cyberattacks such as prompt injections.

Palo Alto Networks’ partnership with Google will enable Prisma AIRS to protect not only Vertex workloads but also software built using the search giant’s open-source Agent Development Kit. The tool, which debuted earlier this year, helps developers build AI agents using Gemini models. Third-party LLMs from rivals such as Anthropic PBC are supported as well.

The partnership will also prioritize Palo Alto Networks’ VM-Series series of virtual firewalls. The firewalls block unauthorized network traffic, such as a connection between applications that don’t require the ability to exchange data, and scan authorized traffic for threats. Palo Alto Networks will more closely integrate VM-Series with Google Cloud.

“This latest expansion of our partnership will ensure that our joint customers have access to the right solutions to secure their most critical AI infrastructure and develop new AI agents with security built in from the start,” said Matt Renner, Google Cloud’s president and chief revenue officer.

The deal is particularly notable because the search giant competes in some of the cybersecurity product categories where Palo Alto Networks is active. For example, the Google Security Operations platform and Palo Alto Networks’ Cortex XSIAM are both designed to help companies investigate potential breaches.

Several of Google’s top rivals in the LLM market have also adopted its public cloud. Earlier this year, Anthropic inked a deal worth tens of billions of dollars to expand its use of Google Cloud. OpenAI Group PBC relies on the platform to power ChatGPT.

Photo: Palo Alto Networks