Based on information from sources well - informed about the situation, IBM is currently engaged in advanced negotiations to acquire Confluent, a data infrastructure company, for an estimated amount of around $11 billion. There's a possibility that the deal could be officially announced as soon as Monday (according to U.S. time). Confluent is a specialist in real - time data streaming technology. This technology plays a crucial role in managing the data flows that are essential for large - scale artificial intelligence models.

Against the backdrop of the ongoing AI boom, the demand for Confluent's services has witnessed a substantial surge across a variety of industries, including retail, technology, and financial services. In the event that the acquisition is successfully concluded, it would represent IBM's most significant deal in recent times. The primary objective behind this acquisition is to bolster IBM's standing and influence in the highly competitive AI and cloud computing sectors.