Alphabet Inc.’s CEO Sundar Pichai was featured during Stanford’s 2024 Business, Government, and Society forum in Stanford, California on April 3, 2024.

According to individuals knowledgeable about the situation, Google is currently engaged in advanced negotiations to obtain cybersecurity company Wiz for a staggering $23 billion, as reported by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

There are suggestions that a deal could be imminent, as Wiz, established in 2020 and spearheaded by CEO Assaf Rappaport, has been experiencing rapid growth. Recently valued at $12 billion in May, Wiz had been contemplating an IPO.

While a representative for Wiz chose not to provide a statement, the firm’s cloud security solution, offering comprehensive insight into cloud operations, has captivated the interest of major corporations with substantial computational assets. Noteworthy investors in Wiz include Israeli VC firm Cyberstarts, Index Ventures, Insight Partners, and Sequoia Capital.

If solidified, this deal would stand as Google’s most significant acquisition to date and reinforce its longstanding commitment to cybersecurity amidst escalating cyber threats from state and non-state actors wreaking havoc on governments and enterprises. Google’s venture into substantial cyber purchases is not foreign, having acquired Mandiant for $5.4 billion a couple of years back.

Despite persistent antitrust scrutiny, with two antitrust lawsuits filed by the Justice Department against Google, the reported negotiations with Wiz indicate a renewed interest in mergers and acquisitions. Previous discussions regarding the acquisition of Hubspot had reportedly diminished in intensity.

Google is yet to respond to requests for comments.