F5 has announced an agreement to buy CalypsoAI, an enterprise-focused AI security provider, in a transaction valued at $180 million. This deal will bring CalypsoAI’s real-time threat defense, large-scale red teaming, and data protection capabilities into F5’s Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP), creating a unified solution for securing AI inference across hybrid and multicloud environments.
CalypsoAI’s platform detects and blocks sophisticated attacks on AI models—such as prompt injection and jailbreaking—while continuously testing systems with thousands of simulated threat prompts each month. It also prevents the exposure of sensitive data by enforcing policy guardrails at runtime and maintains comprehensive audit logs to support regulatory compliance. By integrating these features into the ADSP, F5 aims to give customers a single place to manage security for traditional applications, APIs, and AI components alike.
Enterprises have rushed to adopt generative AI and intelligent agents, but that rapid rollout has introduced a complex new attack surface. Legacy firewalls and point solutions struggle to keep pace with evolving AI threats, and regulatory requirements around data privacy and model governance are tightening.
F5 sees the combination of its high-performance delivery network and CalypsoAI’s model-agnostic security stack as a way to help organizations innovate quickly while keeping critical data protected.
The deal will be financed primarily with cash and is expected to close in F5’s fiscal fourth quarter, subject to customary conditions. Curley & Cooley provided legal counsel to CalypsoAI, while Foros Advisors and Sullivan & Cromwell advised F5 on the deal. Once completed, the acquisition is projected to have a minimal impact on F5’s near-term revenue and operating results.
Launched in 2018, CalypsoAI has raised over $40 million from investors such as Paladin Capital Group and Lockheed Martin Ventures. With the backing of F5, CalypsoAI’s technologies will be deployed at a greater scale, giving companies a streamlined way to test, monitor, and secure AI models throughout their lifecycle.
KEY QUOTES:
“AI is redefining enterprise architecture—and the attack surface companies must defend. Traditional firewalls and point solutions can’t keep up. The addition of CalypsoAI will give enterprises the confidence to innovate faster and better protect critical data as they rely on F5 to deliver and secure apps, APIs, and AI models across their environment.”
François Locoh-Donou, President and CEO of F5
“Enterprises want to move fast with AI while reducing the risk of data leaks, unsafe outputs, or compliance failures. Our customers rely on us to pressure test AI systems at scale, set inference layer guardrails that adapt as models change, and to gain visibility and auditability across their AI estate. F5 and CalypsoAI are more than the sum of their parts: high performance application delivery and AI security that enable businesses to deliver innovation faster without increasing risk.”
Donnchadh Casey, CEO of CalypsoAI
