Protect AI vs Robust Intelligence

Protect AI was a Seattle-based MLSecOps company founded in 2022 by Ian Swanson, Daryan Dehghanpisheh, and Badar Ahmed that built a comprehensive AI and ML security platform. The platform comprised three main products — Guardian (model scanning and supply-chain security), Recon (AI red teaming), and Layer (runtime monitoring) — operating on a unified platform. The company was backed by 17,000+ security researchers via its huntr community and partnered with Hugging Face on threat research. Protect AI was acquired by Palo Alto Networks on July 22, 2025 and its technology has been integrated into Prisma AIRS (AI Runtime Security), Palo Alto's comprehensive AI security platform. Prior to acquisition the company had raised $108.5M total ($14M seed in December 2022, $35M Series A in July 2023, $60M Series B in August 2024), all led by Evolution Equity Partners.

Robust Intelligence was a San Francisco-based AI security company co-founded in 2019 by Harvard computer science professor Yaron Singer and Kojin Oshiba. The company pioneered the concept of an 'AI Firewall' — a purpose-built platform that validates, stress-tests, and protects AI models from development through production. Key capabilities included algorithmic red teaming, automated model assessment, and proactive AI risk mitigation aligned to OWASP and MITRE ATLAS standards. Robust Intelligence was acquired by Cisco in October 2024 for a reported $400M and has been foundational to the development of Cisco AI Defense and Cisco Foundation AI. Its technology is now integrated into the Cisco Security Cloud, providing threat protection against prompt injection, data poisoning, jailbreaking, and unintentional model outcomes. The company raised $44M prior to acquisition across three rounds.