Italian cybersecurity startup Exein has raised $270 million, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Sept. 15.

The funding round valued Exein at $1.7 billion. That is more than double the $770 million valuation at its previous fundraising nine months earlier.

Gianni Cuozzo (지안니 쿠오초), Exein's founder and chief executive officer, said, "AI tools have greatly increased hackers' capabilities, making a new security approach necessary." He added, "Hackers have the upper hand now. We will provide machine-based defence capabilities with embedded AI technology."

The funding round was led by San Francisco venture capital firm Headline.

Cuozzo said AI models have made it much easier to reverse-engineer device systems, such as game consoles or iPods, to find intrusion routes. Many hackers use Chinese open models because they are easier to modify for attacks than U.S. models.

Exein presented as a solution embedding security functions for each device into firmware, low-level software, during manufacturing. The company is also developing a foundation model for physical AI security, aiming for release next year. Cuozzo said, "We are moving to a stage of security models that keep running on devices and automatically respond to attacks."

Exein expects demand for security products to rise as automation spreads. Cuozzo said, "The technology shift toward robots, drones and autonomous vehicles will be realised only if people feel safe."