Cisco Systems is a networking, security and observability vendor whose AI-related business runs through the infrastructure layer beneath model training and inference rather than through model development. Its principal AI product line is the Secure AI Factory with Nvidia, a pre-validated system for deploying large GPU clusters, sold alongside its networking, security and observability products.
Secure AI Factory and the move into server hardware
Cisco disclosed on August 25, 2026 that it is partnering with Supermicro to add high-density, liquid- and air-cooled computing systems to the Secure AI Factory, extending its offering from networking into server hardware. The systems are to support Nvidia's next-generation platforms and were expected to become available in October 2026 (Source: axios.com).
President and chief product officer Jeetu Patel said the company has no preference about where AI ultimately runs — on hyperscaler-hosted frontier models, on open-weight models, or in on-premises deployments — a position consistent with selling the infrastructure layer to all three. Cisco stock was up nearly 45% year to date at the time of the announcement (Source: axios.com).
Investments
Cisco participated, alongside Nvidia, in the $250 million extension to orbital-inference startup Starcloud's Series A announced August 21, 2026, which valued the company at $2.3 billion. Manhattan West Ventures led the extension (Source: techcrunch.com).
Relationships
- related: Nvidia & TSMC — AI Compute Infrastructure — the Secure AI Factory is built around Nvidia platforms, and the two companies co-invested in Starcloud.
- related: Starcloud — investor in the August 2026 Series A extension.
- deploys-in: AI Data Centers — supplies networking, security and now server hardware into AI data-center build-outs.
- related: Inference Economics and Token Pricing — its stated indifference between hosted, open-weight and on-premises deployment is a position on where inference settles.