Atlassian doubles down on AI with $1.5b acquisition of US tech group DX

Homegrown software giant Atlassian will pay $US1 billion in cash and shares for US tech group DX, as it makes its biggest acquisition yet to boost its ability to offer digital services linked to advances in artificial intelligence.

The acquisition is its second this month to follow a $US610 million all-cash acquisition for software group, The Browser Company, as part of an ambition to create an AI-powered internet browser for software applications.

Atlassian co-founder and chief executive Mike Cannon-Brookes said the DX acquisition will help Atlassian sell products that let enterprise software engineers assess productivity gains from advances in AI.

“Using AI is easy, creating value is harder. Today’s announcement is about helping our 300,000+ customers understand if they’re making the right investments to win in the AI era,” he said.

Data intelligence and AI business DX was founded five years ago and its acquisition is expected to close in 2026, with no details provided as to its financials, including sales and losses or profits. Atlassian stated the deal is not expected to affect its operating profit margin targets in 2027.

Atlassian’s Sydneysider founders Mr Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar founded the group in 2002 using some credit card debt and built it into a $US44.5 billion software behemoth as of Thursday.

However, the Nasdaq-listed stock has slumped 30 per cent in 2025 on worries its agentic software services are vulnerable to AI-based disruption.

For the quarter ending June 30 it posted free cash flow of $US360 million on revenue up 22 per cent year-on-year to $US1.38 billion.