Cisco to acquire Yaron Singer’s Robust Intelligence to enhance AI security
Robust Intelligence’s platform offers protection for AI models throughout their lifecycle, from development to production.
Communications giant Cisco has announced its intention to acquire Robust Intelligence, a company founded by Israeli mathematician Professor Yaron Singer. The purchase amount was not disclosed.
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The acquisition was announced in a blog post by Tom Gillis, Cisco's Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Security Business Group. Robust Intelligence’s platform offers protection for AI models throughout their lifecycle, from development to production. Through advanced automation and risk mitigation, Robust Intelligence helps organizations to securely deploy AI applications while adhering to industry and regulatory standards. Currently, the company employs a small number of workers in Israel, and before the acquisition, it planned to significantly expand its operations.
In June of this year, Cisco announced its intention to invest one billion dollars in AI companies through a dedicated fund it established. This acquisition resulted from the fund's activities.
Robust Intelligence was founded in 2021 by Yaron Singer and Kojin Oshiba. Singer, one of the youngest professors of mathematics at Harvard University, achieved tenure by the age of 40.
To date, the company has raised $44 million, with Cisco being one of its investors. In its last fundraising round, the company's valuation was estimated at over $200 million.
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Robust's solution was a little ahead of its time, because until the introduction of ChatGPT and Google's Bard, which sometimes made embarrassing mistakes, not everyone was aware of how disastrous such mistakes could be, especially when it comes to business applications for sectors such as the finance industry.
In the last two years, it has become much easier for Singer to explain to potential customers the consequences of the hallucinations of artificial intelligence engines, however advanced and sophisticated they may be, and Robust is enjoying a surge in demand for its systems.
“Security leaders need purpose-built solutions they can trust to keep up with the new paradigm of AI risk,” said Singer. “Our team is excited about the integral role our platform will play in shaping the future of the Cisco Security Cloud, providing end-to-end AI security and leading the AI revolution with Cisco.”
“We see Robust Intelligence as a natural fit for Cisco that reinforces our dedication to responsible AI and providing better outcomes through security for AI and AI for security,” wrote Gillis. “Robust Intelligence’s focus and deep expertise in AI model security and governance perfectly complements our existing capabilities, accelerating our roadmap for the Cisco Security Cloud. The combination of Cisco and Robust Intelligence means that we can deliver advanced AI security processing seamlessly into the existing data flows, by inserting it into Cisco security and networking products.”
