Databricks strikes deal to buy Panther Labs

Databricks has ⁠agreed to buy startup Panther Labs, pushing the data analytics software provider deeper into the cyber security business.

The acquisition, Databricks' third in this ‌area, furthers its aim to compete with ‌security ‌management incumbents like CrowdStrike and ‌Cisco's Splunk.

Databricks declined to comment on ⁠the deal terms.

Panther, valued at US$1.4 billion ($1.98 billion) after raising US$120 million in Series B funding in 2021, gathers data sources and key ingredients for security in ​one place.

That way, AI programs that act with limited human intervention, known as ⁠agents, can respond to a rising flood of threats in the AI age. Anthropic is a customer, the companies have said.

Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi said in an interview that AI had drastically shrunk how much time attackers need to exploit software vulnerabilities, and old ways of managing security information and alerts ​were "dead." 

"If they're going to attack ⁠you with agents, you have to ⁠defend with agents," Ghodsi told Reuters, during the company's Data + AI Summit ​in San Francisco this week.

"You have to fight ‌fire with ⁠fire."

According to Ghodsi, he first met Panther CEO Jack Naglieri in 2021, had dinner with him and pitched an acquisition years ‌ago without success.

"He wanted to continue going alone," Ghodsi said.

"That was a good idea for him because his valuation has been going up since then ​and he's built an awesome platform."

At US$134 billion, Databricks is one of the world's most valuable privately held companies. It unveiled its ‌security ambitions ⁠in March with ​a product called Lakewatch.