Palo Alto Networks is negotiating to acquire Clutch Security, a three-year-old startup that secures AI agents' access to corporate systems, for $500 million in cash plus milestone payments, according to a person familiar with the talks reported by TechCrunch. Clutch was valued at $85 million during a $20 million Series A round led by Lightspeed and SignalFire in January 2025, and is nearing $10 million in annual recurring revenue.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-11-06
Off-balance-sheet debt tied to AI infrastructure commitments among major U.S. technology companies has nearly doubled in six months, reaching roughly $3.2 trillion. The figure reflects obligations such as long-term contracts and leases that are not recorded directly on company balance sheets, according to the report.
asia.nikkei.com
· 2026-11-03
CrowdStrike unveiled an 'AI Kill Switch' tool at its Fal.Con cybersecurity conference in Europe, adding it as a feature of its Falcon Guardian AI Detection and Response platform launched in September. The tool lets security teams shut down AI agents that deviate from their assigned behavior. CNBC's Jim Cramer praised the announcement on air, calling CrowdStrike stock a buy after the shares rose about 1%.
cnbc.com
· 2026-11-03
Jim Cramer said Thursday's market selloff, which saw the Dow and S&P 500 fall 0.4% and the Nasdaq drop 1.4%, unfairly punished Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, Workday and Salesforce alongside disappointing results from Fortinet and ServiceNow. He argued these companies have different business models and competitive positions than the firms that missed estimates.
cnbc.com
· 2026-10-29
Palo Alto Networks disclosed a high-severity PAN-OS flaw, rated 8.6, that lets authenticated attackers with management-interface access execute code as root. The company said it observed limited exploitation in the wild and has released patches for PAN-OS 10.2, 11.1, 11.2, 12.1 and 12.2, with a fix for 11.2.16 due October 15. The flaw affects PA-Series and VM-Series firewalls and Panorama appliances, but not Cloud NGFW or Prisma Access.
bleepingcomputer.com
· 2026-10-14
Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora said slowing down AI development is unrealistic and downplayed fears that AI poses an extinction-level threat to humanity, calling that risk extremely small. His stance was noted as aligning closely with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's view, which contrasts with more cautious warnings from the heads of Anthropic and OpenAI.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-24
Shares of cybersecurity firms CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks climbed by double-digit percentages on Monday. The rally came as tech industry figures voiced fresh worries about the pace and safety of AI development at companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-14
Nike will be removed from the S&P 100 index on September 21, ending an 18-year run, as its market capitalization has fallen from a 2021 peak of $264 billion to about $57 billion today. The sportswear giant remains in the broader S&P 500, but its removal from the top-100 index reflects a sustained decline, including a 36% drop in market cap in 2026 alone. Honeywell Aerospace, Simon Property Group and Colgate-Palmolive are also exiting the index the same day, replaced by tech firms like Dell, Palo Alto Networks, Arista Networks and Sandisk.
fortune.com
· 2026-09-14
A closely watched investment portfolio cut positions in AI-linked names Palo Alto Networks and Corning last week after big run-ups, locking in gains of roughly 148% and 52% respectively. Proceeds were redirected into more defensive holdings such as BNY and Kimberly-Clark, as rising oil prices and Treasury yields pressured risk appetite even after Nvidia's strong earnings failed to lift the broader AI trade.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-05
Threat group ShinyHunters publicly taunted security vendor ReliaQuest, posting screenshots suggesting a compromised employee account and listing the company on its data leak site. ReliaQuest confirmed an employee was tricked via a vishing attack into entering credentials on a fake single sign-on page, but said the attacker only gained view-only access and could not move laterally or reach internal applications.
darkreading.com
· 2026-09-03
Palo Alto Networks acquired Console, a two-year-old startup using AI agents to automate IT help desk tasks, for roughly $500 million in cash and stock, according to people familiar with the deal. The company had only raised $29 million and was last valued at $157 million, meaning investors—including Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora, an early angel backer—saw a swift and substantial return. Neither company disclosed financial terms publicly.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-02
Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora said businesses worldwide are sitting on roughly $1 trillion worth of outdated cybersecurity systems that can't keep pace with AI-driven attacks. He made the comments after the company posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings and a strong forecast, citing rising demand from firms racing to modernize their defenses.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-01
GoKawiil