Check Point Software announced its intention to acquire Lakera, an AI-native security platform, for $300 million in a transaction expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The acquisition is designed to establish comprehensive AI security capabilities as part of its broader solution stack.

Who is Lakera?

Lakera is a specialized AI security company founded by former engineers from Google and Meta, with R&D centers in Zurich and San Francisco.

The company focuses exclusively on AI-native security environments, distinguishing itself from traditional cybersecurity vendors adapting existing technologies for AI use cases.

The company’s core offerings include two flagship solutions:

• Lakera Red provides pre-deployment security posture assessments for AI systems, while Lakera Guard delivers real-time runtime protection for LLMs, AI agents, and multimodal workflows.
• Gandalf is its adversarial AI network, and supports more than 100 languages for global deployment.

Rationale & Strategic Fit

The acquisition of Lakera addresses a critical gap in Check Point’s security portfolio for enterprise AI.

While Check Point currently offers GenAI Protect, SaaS and API security, and machine learning-powered endpoint protection, these solutions primarily secure traditional IT environments rather than AI-specific attack vectors.

Lakera’s AI-native approach complements Check Point’s existing Infinity platform architecture with specialized protection against prompt injection attacks, model manipulation, data leakage through AI systems, and risks from multi-agent collaboration.

Integrating these capabilities will make Check Point one of the first comprehensive AI security stacks covering the full AI lifecycle from development through runtime operation.

Market Impact

The acquisition of Lakerea creates both competitive advantages and potential vulnerabilities for Check Point.

On the strength side, the combination of Lakera’s specialized AI security technology with Check Point’s enterprise sales capabilities and existing security platform creates barriers to entry for competitors attempting to build similar capabilities organically.

Lakera’s research credentials and active participation in AI security standards development bring Check Point intellectual property advantages and industry influence that competitors will find difficult to replicate quickly.

Lakera’s adversarial pattern database (containing about 80 million patterns) is a significant data asset that promises to improve detection capabilities over time.

Analysis

Check Point’s acquisition of Lakera is a strategically sound investment in a fast-moving, emergent market category. The combination of capabilities addresses real enterprise needs as AI deployment accelerates beyond experimental phases into production environments requiring comprehensive security controls.

While implementation challenges and competitive pressures remain, the acquisition positions Check Point at the forefront of AI security innovation. The establishment of a dedicated AI security center of excellence demonstrates a commitment to long-term market leadership rather than opportunistic technology acquisition.

For enterprises embarking on AI transformation journeys, this acquisition provides Check Point with a comprehensive security foundation that can accelerate adoption by addressing fundamental trust and safety concerns that have historically hindered AI deployment in mission-critical business processes.

It’s a strong, well-timed acquisition.