Databricks has expanded its push into enterprise security by acquiring two startups—Antimatter and SiftD.ai—to support the launch of its new AI-powered security product, Lakewatch. The move comes shortly after the company secured a $5 billion funding round, strengthening its position to invest in new capabilities and scale its platform.
Lakewatch is designed to combine Databricks’ large-scale data storage capabilities with traditional Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) functions such as threat detection and investigation. What differentiates the platform is its use of AI agents powered by Anthropic’s Claude, enabling more advanced and automated security analysis.
To build this offering, Databricks integrated technologies and talent from both acquisitions. Antimatter, a startup focused on secure data infrastructure, was acquired in a deal finalized last year but only recently disclosed. The company had previously raised around $12 million and developed a “data control plane” system that allows enterprises to deploy AI agents while safeguarding sensitive information.
SiftD.ai, on the other hand, is a relatively new company that launched its product in November. It developed an interactive notebook environment designed to enable collaboration between humans and AI agents, similar to tools like Jupyter notebooks. The startup’s CEO, Steve Zhang, is known for his earlier role as chief scientist at Splunk, where he created the Search Processing Language.
Both startups were small in size, with SiftD.ai operating with only a handful of employees and Antimatter having fewer than 50 team members. While SiftD.ai appears to have been acquired primarily for talent, Antimatter likely contributed valuable intellectual property. Databricks confirmed that employees from both companies have joined its workforce, with Antimatter founder Andrew Krioukov now leading the Lakewatch initiative.
Financial details of the acquisitions have not been disclosed. However, the company indicated that it will continue to explore similar opportunities, stating, “We’re always looking to what’s next — our goal is to stay ahead of the market and close gaps in what our customers need.”
With these acquisitions and the launch of Lakewatch, Databricks is positioning itself to compete more aggressively in the cybersecurity space by integrating AI-driven insights directly into its data platform.
