F5, the US-based company that provides application delivery and security services, has announced plans to acquire CalypsoAI, a Dublin-headquartered firm specialising in AI security, for $180 million. The deal, subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of F5’s 2025 fiscal year ending 30 September.
CalypsoAI develops inference layer security tools that help enterprises test and safeguard generative and agentic AI models. Its platform provides adversarial threat protection, data security and governance capabilities designed to mitigate risks such as prompt injection, jailbreak attacks and data leakage. F5 said these features will be integrated into its Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP).
François Locoh-Donou, president and CEO of F5, said the acquisition addresses emerging challenges for enterprises deploying AI. “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,” he said.
Enterprises are rapidly embedding AI into products and operations, creating new security and compliance risks. F5 said the acquisition will enable it to provide a model-agnostic approach to AI security, offering customers centralised visibility and policy controls across applications, APIs, data stores and models.
Donnchadh Casey, CEO, CalypsoAI, said businesses are looking for ways to adopt AI without compromising on safety. “Enterprises want to move fast with AI while reducing the risk of data leaks, unsafe outputs, or compliance failures. F5 and CalypsoAI are more than the sum of their parts,” he said.
Gartner has identified AI trust, risk and security management (TRiSM) as a distinct market, highlighting the need for organisations to maintain independence from single model or hosting providers to retain flexibility and trust. Analysts note that growing regulatory pressure in regions such as the European Union, combined with the rise of shadow AI usage, has increased demand for security controls tailored to AI.
F5 said the acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on its revenue or operating results. The company, listed on Nasdaq, employs more than 6,000 people worldwide and serves large enterprises across cloud, on-premises and hybrid environments.
CalypsoAI, founded in 2018, has raised more than $40 million in venture funding from investors including Paladin Capital Group, Lockheed Martin Ventures and Hakluyt Capital. Its clients include Palantir and SGK.
