Fortinet launches new firewalls for AI traffic control

Fortinet has expanded its FortiGate G Series with the FortiGate 3500G and FortiGate 400G, two firewalls aimed at securing AI-related traffic across data centres and enterprise edge networks.

The launch comes as companies contend with rising volumes of encrypted traffic, more east-west data movement within networks, and wider use of AI tools across distributed systems.

The two systems are designed to address a common challenge in corporate networks: the performance hit that can occur when advanced inspection and security controls are enabled. Fortinet is positioning the 3500G for data centre environments and the 400G for enterprise edge deployments in the mid-range firewall segment.

Both products run on Fortinet's FortiOS software and use its NP7 and SP5 processors. They combine traffic inspection, threat intelligence, and hardware-based integrity controls in a single platform.

AI focus

A central part of the expansion is greater oversight of AI use inside organisations. Fortinet says the FortiGate 3500G and 400G include native shadow AI detection, giving security teams visibility into unsanctioned use of AI applications and controls to protect sensitive data.

Its FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services are used to identify and prioritise threats and automate protection measures. FortiOS 8.0 adds inspection of MCP and agent-to-agent traffic, intended to give customers closer control over AI-related data flows and access.

The data centre model is built around high-capacity connectivity and hardware-based trust features. Fortinet says the 3500G offers 400Gb connectivity and is aimed at organisations facing rising internal traffic volumes, zero-trust requirements, and heavier AI workloads in dense environments.

It also includes hardware-level validation, secure firmware enforcement, and system-level transparency measures designed to help customers verify the integrity of their security infrastructure rather than rely on assumed trust.

Edge systems

At the enterprise edge, the 400G is intended as an upgrade path for existing FortiGate users seeking newer hardware without a major operational change. The model keeps interface consistency across the wider portfolio, which could make it easier for network and security teams to standardise administration across sites.

The 400G is designed for distributed environments where applications span data centres, cloud systems, and edge locations. In those settings, older firewalls can struggle to maintain throughput when inspection features such as intrusion prevention, application control, and malware protection are enabled.

Ken Xie, Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer at Fortinet, linked the launch to broader changes in enterprise infrastructure.

"Organisations modernizing their infrastructures for AI-driven workloads and increasingly distributed environments need security platforms that can deliver both performance and protection at scale," said Ken Xie, Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer, Fortinet.

He said the latest additions are intended to help customers simplify how they build and protect those environments.

"The expansion of our FortiGate G series reflects our commitment to helping customers simplify their architectures, reduce complexity, and protect their AI deployments from the data center to the enterprise edge," said Xie.

Single platform

The launch also highlights Fortinet's long-standing effort to bring networking and security functions together under a single management and operating framework. The two new systems sit within its broader Security Fabric approach, which combines FortiOS, FortiManager, FortiAnalyser, and threat intelligence from FortiGuard Labs.

That structure is intended to give organisations a central way to manage policy, visibility, and incident response across hybrid environments. For large companies running separate systems across branch sites, campuses, cloud deployments, and data centres, this kind of consolidation is often presented as a way to reduce the number of security tools in use and simplify operations.

Fortinet did not disclose pricing. It said performance comparisons in its materials were based on firewall, intrusion prevention, application control, malware protection, and logging being enabled, while competitor figures were drawn from publicly available information.

Power consumption figures in its comparison materials were taken from external data sheets and hardware guides using maximum power consumption values.

For buyers, the significance of the new models will depend on whether they can maintain inspection rates as AI traffic and encrypted workloads continue to grow inside corporate networks. Fortinet says the products are intended to let organisations apply tighter controls across hybrid infrastructure while keeping operations consistent from the data centre to the edge.