As part of a $102 million late-stage fundraising round, Juniper Networks, which Hewlett Packard Enterprise plans to acquire by early 2025, announced this week that it had invested in artificial intelligence firm Recogni.
Based in San Jose, California According to Recogni, it will work with Juniper Networks, a networking expert, to develop an AI inference system that can be mounted in server racks. The two businesses will specifically use Recogni’s unique AI inference accelerator technology to provide low-cost, scalable, and energy-efficient solutions for executing complicated AI models in cloud environments and data centers.
Celesta Capital and GreatPoint Ventures co-led Recogni’s $102 million Series C fundraising in February. This week, Juniper Networks said that had participated in the late-stage investment round.
The two businesses’ partnership is centered on creating AI inference compute solutions for organizations, service providers, and hyperscalers.
In 2026, the business plans to put its AI inference accelerator technology into production.
Juniper Networks, a company based in Sunnyvale, California, has long prioritized AI-powered networking as a means of differentiating itself in the marketplace. Thanks to its industry-leading Juniper Mist AI platform, the company has been introducing artificial intelligence into more areas of the network in recent years.
First revealed in February, the $14 billion blockbuster HPE-Juniper transaction sets up a competition between market leader Cisco Systems, the biggest player in the networking industry, and HPE Juniper for networking supremacy in the AI era.
The boards of directors of Juniper and HPE, as well as the shareholders, have authorized the combination. The purchase is expected to finalize at the end of 2024 or the start of 2025, HPE CEO Antonio Neri told CRN.
