On Tuesday, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison shared the company’s vision for developing a highly secure infrastructure driven by autonomous systems. He also highlighted the benefits of multi-cloud environments for businesses, emphasizing their efficiency and practicality compared to depending on a single cloud service provider.
“Human errors cause most cyber attacks… so eliminating human involvement eliminates human error,” Mr. Ellison, 80, said during a crowded session at the CloudWorld event in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The billionaire, who co-founded Oracle in 1977 in California, announced that by next year, the company would migrate all its applications to AI-powered autonomous databases to prevent cyber breaches for its customers worldwide.
“We are utilizing AI to greatly improve our cloud security infrastructure and build autonomous systems… these autonomous systems are similar to self-driving cars, which are naturally safer than those operated by humans,” Mr. Ellison added.
A close associate of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Mr. Ellison often referenced self-driving cars while stressing the importance of cyber security.
“By 2025, we will migrate all our applications to autonomous databases. This will not only enhance security but also make the software faster, more reliable, and reduce costs for customers Overall, Oracle’s cloud infrastructure will become quicker and more dependable,” said Mr. Ellison, who stepped down as Oracle’s CEO in 2014 and now serves as its chief technology officer and executive chairman.
The World Economic Forum’s 2023 Global Risks Report identified widespread cyber crime and cyber insecurity as two of the top 10 global risks in both the short and long term, as ranked by 1,200 experts from academia, business, government, and civil society.
The global cyber security market, valued at $72.24 billion last year, is projected to reach $193.73 billion this year and $562.72 billion by 2032, according to research from India-based Fortune Business Insights.
“There have been cases where cyber hackers lock users out of their data and demand ransom… Autonomous databases and AI can prevent such incidents of data breaches and identity theft,” Mr. Ellison said.
He also emphasized the importance of implementing biometrically authenticated login systems rather than relying on manually entered passwords to strengthen cyber security.
“Biometric user authentication will reduce credit fraud and identity theft. It can also be applied to various other areas such as passport control, secure school entry, wire transfers, bill payments, and prescription pick-ups,” Mr. Ellison added.
Beginning of multi-cloud era
Oracle competes with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Microsoft, and SAP for a share of the cloud market. Mr. Ellison noted that customers prefer a combination of cloud providers, signaling the beginning of a multi-cloud era where various companies can collaborate to offer their products.
“Customers use multiple clouds, but these providers don’t work well together due to poor integration. Our recent partnership with AWS aims to address this issue,” he said.
On Monday, Oracle teamed up with AWS, the world’s largest cloud computing company and one of its main competitors, enabling customers to utilize multiple cloud platforms simultaneously.
This partnership allows Oracle customers to run database services on AWS infrastructure, simplifying data management and integration. It will also reduce data migration complexity, ensure low-latency connections, and provide a unified support experience, according to both companies.
Larry Ellison becomes the third richest person.
Mr. Ellison’s fortune surged on Tuesday as Oracle’s stock skyrocketed, fueled by its partnership with AWS and the announcement of new AI products.
His wealth increased by $17.6 billion, bringing his total net worth to $191 billion, surpassing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ($174.9 billion) and Europe’s richest individual, LVMH founder Bernard Arnault ($172.3 billion), according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires rankings.
Mr. Ellison now ranks behind Elon Musk ($250.5 billion) and Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos ($198 billion).
Oracle’s stock rose by 11.44 percent to $155.89 at the close of trading on Tuesday, boosting the company’s market value to $429.61 billion. In the past 24 hours, Oracle’s market capitalization has grown by more than $30 billion.