Google has announced the biggest acquisition in its 28-year history. The $32bn (£23.8bn) price tag for Israeli cyber security firm, Wiz, is more than double the amount that the US tech giant spent on its previous record acquisition, which saw Motorola Mobility acquired for $12.5bn (£9.35bn) in 2012.
Other major Google deals have included familiar brands like the smart home security system, Nest, and the world’s leading video platform, YouTube. But while the latest deal has been in discussion for the last two years, few outside of the tech industry would have heard of Wiz, or know what it does.
So how did it become so valuable within just six years of its founding? And why was Google willing to make a record-breaking offer to bring it under its control?
In a press release, Google said the acquisition was made to “improve cloud security and enable organisations to build fast and securely across any cloud or AI platform”.
In its own release, Wiz said that joining Google would allow the company to “integrate the most cutting edge AI capabilities” into its platform, and “give security teams new superpowers”.
The real reason may have far more to do with money, power, and the chance for Google to quietly monopolise another market.
Cloud computing is one of the world’s fastest growing industries, with the recent surge in popularity of artificial intelligence helping to supercharge demand for leading providers like Amazon Web Service (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.
AI has also made cloud computing one of the most vulnerable sectors, with cyber criminals using new tools to breach defences and launch attacks on what has become the backbone of modern IT infrastructure.
The emerging trend of “vibe coding” – where people use AI agents to build apps and software by just describing it, rather than writing lines of code – is also proving catastrophic for cloud security. A research report from Wiz last year found that one in five organisations are now being exposed to “systemic risks” from vibe-coded applications.
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In the face of these threats, Wiz has developed and deployed its own AI to detect vulnerabilities and protect sensitive data at an unprecedented scale. This “agentless” approach, which allows a company to shield its entire cloud infrastructure without needing to install software on each individual server, saw Wiz become the fastest startup ever to scale from $1m (£745,000) to $100m (£75m) annual revenue in 2022.
Wiz’s security system works across all major cloud computing providers, meaning Google can now control the security layer of not only the companies using its own Google Cloud service, but also the companies using its competitors’ platforms, like AWS and Azure.
The deal was originally announced in July 2025, though it faced scrutiny from regulators concerned about competition and the possibility of Google monopolising cloud computing security.
The European Commission granted Google unconditional antitrust approval last month, marking the last major challenge to the Wiz deal. The reasoning was that Google Cloud currently represents a relatively small market share of the cloud computing market, and that there are alternatives to Wiz that competitors could switch to.
“Google stands behind Amazon and Microsoft in terms of market shares in cloud infrastructure, and our assessment confirmed that customers will continue to have credible alternatives and the ability to switch providers,” EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement at the time.
But while alternatives exist, Wiz has been described as the “gold standard” for cloud security, and Google’s control of it could see it outmanoeuvre its competitors.
When the deal was formally announced on Wednesday, Wiz made clear in its press release that its product will continue to work on AWS, Azure and other cloud computing providers, writing in bold that “Wiz remains a multi-cloud platform”.
What critics fear, however, is that Wiz’s integration into Google could see support for rivals like AWS and Azure be deprioritised. Ahead of the European Commission’s regulatory approval, advocacy organisations warned that a practice referred to as “soft degradation” could see new security features take longer to reach Google’s competitors.
Such a move could push customers towards Google Cloud, seeing it as the only option where the full version of Wiz is available.
If this plays out, then monopolising cloud security would allow Google to dominate not just an industry, but something that is increasingly viewed as an essential utility in the 21st century.
