Hewlett Packard announced its $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks, Inc., a leader in Artificial Intelligence-native networks. As AI matures, companies are betting on its ability to drive efficiencies and live up to the hype it has enjoyed.
“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,” according to the companies’ joint press release. “This transaction will strengthen HPEs position at the nexus of accelerating macro-AI trends, expand our total addressable market, and drive further innovation for customers as we help bridge the AI-native and cloud-native worlds, while also generating significant value for shareholders.”
New technologies such as blockchain and AI typically follow a “hype cycle,” according to Gartner. First, early progress triggers rising excited about what the technology can accomplish. These expectations then become inflated, such as when ChatGBT wowed users during late 2022 – early 2023 only to have interest wane as soon as the summer. Over-inflated expectations lead to disillusionment before the hype curve rebounds via a “slope of enlightenment” as the technology is better understood and more directly applied to specific problems. The final stage is an era of productivity – an era that Gartner expects AI to attain this year.
According to public relations company Agility, AI continues to face challenges to its adoption. Leading among them are companies’ difficulties applying the technology to particular business needs. This hurdle is followed by concerns about legal and compliance risks as well as company cultures hostile to the new technology. Hewlett Packard is counting on companies overcoming such obstacles as it harnesses AI to increase productivity across a variety of industries.
According to DealPulse’s M&A database, which harnesses both AI and attorneys to digest the granular deal points of each publicly-announced transaction over $25 million, Hewlett Packard is advised by law firms Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Covington & Burling LLP, and financial advisers J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Qatalyst Partners. Juniper Networks, Inc. is advised by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates and financial adviser Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC.
