**IBM is acquiring Confluent, a leading streaming data company built on Apache Kafka, in an $11 billion deal to strengthen its AI data infrastructure for hybrid cloud platforms.** This high-impact transaction, one of IBM’s largest software acquisitions since Red Hat, addresses the growing need for real-time data in AI systems and boosted Confluent’s shares over 30% upon announcement[1].

References:
1. https://techstartups.com/2025/12/08/technology-news-today-the-latest-in-tech-ai-startup-news-december-8-2025/
2. https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/friday-five-december-12-2025-red-hat
3. https://fnarena.com/index.php/2025/12/12/weekly-top-ten-news-stories-12-december-2025/
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAj8KgnF33o
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbmzF69mSr4
6. https://theweek.com/puzzles/magazine-solutions-december-12-2025
7. https://technologymagazine.com/magazine/technology-magazine-december-2025
8. https://www.elzmannews.com/143834