Databricks is on a buying spree, and this time it's shopping in the cybersecurity aisle. The data and AI company has agreed to acquire Panther Labs, a security startup that helps organizations detect and respond to threats in real time. The price tag? Undisclosed, but Panther was last valued at $1.4 billion after a $120 million Series B in 2021.

The deal is a clear signal that Databricks wants to take on cybersecurity heavyweights like CrowdStrike and Splunk, according to Reuters. Panther's product pulls security data into one place, letting software agents act on threats with minimal human intervention. That's increasingly important as AI makes it easier for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities faster than ever.

At Databricks' Data + AI Summit in San Francisco, CEO Ali Ghodsi made the case that old-school alert-and-log workflows are obsolete. "If they're going to attack you with agents, you have to defend with agents," Ghodsi told Reuters. "You have to fight fire with fire."

This is Databricks' third cybersecurity acquisition in just over a year. In March 2025, it bought Antimatter, a startup focused on data protection and secure governance for AI agents. That deal stayed under wraps until March 2026, when Databricks launched its AI-powered security product, Lakewatch. Around the same time, it also acquired SiftD.ai, an early-stage company specializing in AI-human collaboration for detection engineering. Financial terms for both were not disclosed.

Databricks is reportedly considering a new funding round that could kick off within the next month, potentially boosting its valuation to between $165 billion and $175 billion. The company has been around for 13 years and has repeatedly delayed an IPO, opting instead for private funding and secondary share sales. But Ghodsi told investors that an IPO is still on the table, possibly as early as next year. The terms of the latest funding round are still being finalized, and it's unclear whether the new capital will be included in the valuation.