NEW YORK: US IT firm Hewlett Packard Enterprise will acquire telecoms equipment specialist Juniper Networks for $14 billion, the two firms announced Tuesday, in a bid to accelerate HPE’s adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Focused on cloud computing, data analytics and cybersecurity, HPE will get its hands on a major IT infrastructure player in this all-cash acquisition.

“The explosion of AI and hybrid cloud-driven business is accelerating demand for secure, unified technology solutions that connect, protect, and analyze companies’ data from edge to cloud,” the two companies wrote in a joint statement.

The advent of so-called generative AI, marked by the launch of OpenAI in November 2022, has increased the needs of many businesses for IT architecture and capacity, as the still-novel technology requires considerable computing power.

“This transaction will strengthen HPE’s position at the nexus of accelerating macro-AI trends, expand our total addressable market, and drive further innovation,” HPE CEO Antonio Neri said, according to the statement.

HPE was formed in 2015 from the demerger of the historic Hewlett-Packard group, which was undergoing a major restructuring at the time.

At the time, the company put its infrastructure, software and enterprise services divisions into HPE, and its personal computers and printers teams at HP.

Microsoft, OpenAI hit with new lawsuit by authors over AI training

HPE expects to complete the acquisition of Juniper in late 2024 or early 2025.

HPE expects cost savings of up to $450 million per year within three years of the acquisition.

The price offered by HPE includes a 32 percent premium on Juniper’s closing price on Monday, before the first news reports of a possible merger were published.