Amazon snapped up an AI security startup for around $20 million

Amazon has acquired a San Diego security startup called Harvest.ai for around $20 million (£17 million), TechCrunch reports.

The acquisition was reportedly made through Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon's cloud services group.

Founded by two former NSA employees, Harvest.ai has developed technology that can help companies to find and stop targeted attacks on their data.

The company uses machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to learn and detect when an unauthorised person is trying to steal intellectual property or other important documents from company servers.

A source told TechCrunch that Amazon paid $19 million (£16 million) for Harvest.ai, which had raised just $2.3 million (£1.9 million) from investors.

The 12 people that work for Harvest.ai are reportedly moving to Amazon's headquarters in Seattle.

Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment - but Trinity Ventures, one of Harvest.ai's lead investors, states on its website that the startup has been acquired, and several of Harvest.ai's employees write on their LinkedIn pages that they now work for AWS.