Belgian cybersecurity firm Aikido has unveiled an open-weight artificial intelligence model, ‘Altar’, specifically engineered for cybersecurity applications. Released on Monday, the new model seeks to empower companies to leverage advanced AI security tools without the necessity of transmitting sensitive code to external providers. This innovation is particularly pertinent given the rising industry focus on data privacy and the inherent risks associated with sharing proprietary or confidential information when deploying cloud-based AI solutions, ensuring that crucial data remains within an organisation’s control.
The launch comes amidst increasing apprehension over the sophisticated use of AI by criminals to identify and exploit software vulnerabilities, a trend that has considerably heightened demand for robust, defensive AI tools capable of being run locally within an organisation’s own secure environment. ‘Altar’ is a highly compressed and customised iteration of Z.AI’s open model GLM-5.3, according to Aikido, and will be openly available for local deployments. This approach provides an added layer of security and operational autonomy, allowing firms to maintain full oversight of their AI-driven threat detection and response mechanisms.
Aikido, a prominent European cybersecurity firm, specialises in providing comprehensive security tools and solutions designed to help companies protect their digital assets and infrastructure from evolving cyber threats. The newly introduced ‘Altar’ model is slated for immediate deployment within Aikido’s existing security solutions, which are provided to a diverse customer base, including notable institutions such as Belgian bank Belfius. The company itself achieved a significant valuation of $1 billion (approximately 871.31 million euros) in January, underscoring its strong and expanding position in the competitive global cybersecurity market.
