Amid reports of US regulatory concerns over HPE’s proposed buy of Juniper Networks, the CEOs of both companies talked about the future of the blended entity at this week’s HPE Discover event in Barcelona – and that future includes plenty of AI networking technology.
HPE’s acquisition of Juniper has been under regulatory scrutiny ever since HPE announced the $14 billion deal in January. The proposed deal has passed muster with a number of world agencies so far, but there is reportedly some concern about it from the US Department of Justice.
HPE and Juniper execs met with Justice Department antitrust enforcers earlier this month in an effort to persuade the agency not to challenge their proposed deal, Bloomberg News reported.
“DOJ officials are ready to challenge the deal if necessary and have made their concerns known to the company, but no final decision on whether to bring a lawsuit has been reached. The department could let HPE’s purchase of Juniper proceed, potentially with some changes to address its competition concerns if the companies agree to revise the transaction,” Bloomberg reported.
Bloomberg also reported that the vendors may delay the deal until President-elect Trump takes office with the idea that the transaction might get a more favorable review.
AI networking a focus at HPE Discover
In Barcelona, HPE CEO Antonio Neri told attendees that the company still hopes to close the deal by the end of 2024 or early 2025.
“Networking is one of the core tenants that’s going to enable and advance AI, and that’s not lost on us,” Neri said in his keynote address.
“AI requires a modern networking foundation, from client to cloud, to connect data, and this foundation will be every bit as important as the silicon in unlocking the power and value AI holds as the world transition to this type of accelerated computing. A high-performance networking fabric is essential, and we are taking our networking position to a new level, one that will disrupt the industry and extend our network and AI expertise by leaps and bounds,” Neri said.
The combination of HPE and Juniper will take the network of the future a giant leap forward, he said.
“The Juniper deal will be an essential piece of the puzzle. Because together, we expect to have a lineup of secure AI-native network solutions to deliver exceptional user experiences across all segments – enterprise, cloud and service providers,” Neri said.
“More customers will require a network architecture, in my mind, that’s purpose built for AI workloads and the multiple levels of connectivity,” Neri added. “And my view is that they would require a full network and stack, including security. “
“Networking is the biggest enabler of AI, and hybrid cloud is the core foundation. So, whether it’s building the right network for AI, or using AI to optimize network operations, the HPE and Juniper combination will bring what we expect to be an incredible solution to meet the needs of today’s modern applications,” Neri said.
Rami Rahim, CEO of Juniper Networks, added: “As a combined company, we’re going to have more customers, more and more devices deployed around the planet. So that means our leading AIOps capabilities are only going to become smarter and even more effective at basically assuring the best end-to-end experiences for our customers and, of course, amazing experiences.”
AI’s potential can only be unlocked with a network that’s up to the task, Rahim said. “Today’s AI models require a network that’s fast, flexible and secure,” Rahim said. “[Without that] robust fabric, your AI projects can fail. And these AI workloads are some of the heaviest we’ve ever seen in my years and years or decades in networking.”
Source:: Network World