F5 Inc. today announced plans to acquire CalypsoAI Inc., a startup that helps enterprises protect their artificial intelligence applications from hackers.

The all-cash deal values CalypsoAI at $180 million. That’s more than four times the amount of funding the company raised prior to the acquisition. F5 expects to close the transaction later this month.

Nasdaq-listed F5 provides software that companies use to secure their applications and increase their performance. It also makes physical appliances that can optimize the flow of network traffic in data centers. It generated $780 million in revenue last quarter, 12% more than the same time a year earlier.

CalypsoAI, for its part, has built a cybersecurity toolkit called the Inference Platform that is optimized to protect AI workloads. It uses AI agents to generate prompts that mimic the malicious input hackers might attempt to enter into an application. If a prompt is blocked, the platform can adapt its behavior and try again.

Companies can use the software to determine whether an AI workload could be tricked into leaking sensitive data. According to CalypsoAI, its software also spots other vulnerabilities. It can check whether malicious prompts might cause an AI application to crash or slow down.

The Inference Platform includes a tool called Defend that enables enterprises to create guardrails for their applications. A bank, for example, could implement controls that prevent a support chatbot from disclosing credit card numbers. CalypsoAI says that the tool lends itself to blocking not only data theft but also AI output that might breach regulations.

The third component of the company’s platform is called Observe. According to CalypsoAI, the tool monitors how users interact with an AI application and collects technical data on cybersecurity incidents.

“AI is redefining enterprise architecture — and the attack surface companies must defend,” said F5 Chief Executive Officer François Locoh-Donou. “Traditional firewalls and point solutions can’t keep up.”

F5 plans to integrate the Inference Platform into the F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform, a product suite that includes many of its core offerings. CalypsoAI’s software will complement the existing cybersecurity features in the bundle. F5 provides tools that can help companies spot vulnerabilities in their applications, block distributed denial-of-service attacks and perform related tasks.

The acquisition comes less than a month after F5’s purchase of MantisNet Inc., a network observability provider. The startup developed a platform that companies can use to monitor the flow of data traffic in their cloud environments. Like CalypsoAI’s software, MantisNet will be integrated into the F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform.

Photo: F5