Databricks to Acquire Generative AI Startup in $1.3B Deal | CRN

June 26, 2023, 4:22 PM EDT

Databricks will integrate MosaicML technology with its data lakehouse platform, allowing users to build and train models using their own data.

Data lakehouse provider Databricks has reached an agreement to acquire generative AI platform provider MosaicML for approximately $1.3 billion, Databricks said Monday.

With the acquisition, Databricks will provide customers with the ability to “build, own and secure generative AI models with their data,” according to a company statement.

“Every organization should be able to benefit from the AI ​​revolution with more control over how their data is used. Databricks and MosaicML have an incredible opportunity to democratize AI and make the lake house the best place to build Generative AI and LLM [large language models],” said Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO of Databricks, in the statement.

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“Databricks and MosaicML’s shared vision, rooted in transparency and a history of open source contributions, will deliver value for our customers as they navigate the greatest information revolution of our time,” said Ghodsi (pictured).

Databricks is holding its Data + AI Summit conference in San Francisco this week, where the acquisition of MosaicML is sure to be a hot topic of discussion.

Databricks has become one of the leaders in the big data space with its Databricks Lakehouse platform which provides businesses and organizations with a foundation for data lakes, data warehouses and machine learning systems, offering a range of capabilities ranging from data governance , to data engineering, data science, data sharing and data streaming.

Databricks is already in the process of acquiring Okera, a developer of data governance technology, for an undisclosed sum. The two companies announced the deal on May 3.

MosaicML was founded in 2021 and, like Databricks, is headquartered in San Francisco. The startup is known for its large multitask prompt tuning (MPT) language models that organizations use to quickly build and train state-of-the-art models using their own data cost-effectively, according to Databricks.

MosaicML claims that automatic model training optimization provides training 2 to 7 times faster than standard approaches. The combination of Databricks and MosaicML will help customers maintain control, security and ownership of their data, according to Databricks.

“At MosaicML, we believe in a world where everyone is empowered to build and train their own models, imbued with their own opinions and viewpoints – and joining forces with Databricks will help us make that belief a reality,” said Naveen Rao, MosaicML co-founder and chief executive officer, in a statement. “We started MosaicML to solve the difficult research and engineering problems needed to make education at scale more accessible to all. With the recent wave of generative AI, this mission has been in the spotlight.”

Databricks said MosaicML’s platform will be “supported, scaled and integrated over time to give customers a seamless unified platform” that they can use to build, own and secure their generative AI models.

Databricks said the entire MosaicML team, including its machine learning and neural network specialists, are expected to join Databricks once the acquisition closes. The $1.3 billion price tag is inclusive of preservation packages, the companies said.

The companies said the acquisition, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances, is expected to be completed by the end of July.