Databricks

Databricks is an American software company founded by the creators of Apache Spark. Databricks develops a web-based platform for working with Spark that provides automated cluster management and IPython-style notebooks. Key executives include CEO Ali Ghodsi and Executive Chair Ion Stoica. Competitors include cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Azure and Google Cloud, as well as other data and analytics companies like Snowflake and Cloudera.

Recent Articles about Databricks

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The Startups Angling to Go Public After Anthropic

By Valida Pau · Jul 23, 2026 3:39pm PDT

Before we get into today’s column, some breaking news: Stripe is in talks to buy OpenRouter for about $10 billion. The news follows our report Friday that the $1.3 billion-valuation startup, which helps companies choose the best and cheapest AI models, was the target of takeover interest. Databricks was also in early discussions to buy... Before we get into today’s column, some breaking news: Stripe is in talks to buy OpenRouter for...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

OpenAI’s Revenue Chief Barnstorms for Business Customers

By Sri Muppidi and Laura Bratton · May 30, 2026 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Before former Slack CEO Denise Dresser joined OpenAI in December as its chief revenue officer, the company’s efforts to sell its products to business customers were sometimes clunky. Earlier in 2025, for example, the company had struck an agreement with Databricks, which would sell OpenAI products alongside the database software provider’s own... Before former Slack CEO Denise Dresser joined OpenAI in December as its chief revenue officer,...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Artificial Intelligence

Microsoft Opens a New Front in the Fight Over Data for AI Agents

By Kevin McLaughlin · May 22, 2026 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Microsoft has opened a new front in the AI data wars, blocking partners from connecting their data management tools to a popular product as it tries to defend its business software strength in the era of AI agents. The friction centers on Power BI, a Microsoft product nearly all Fortune 500 firms use to analyze data about their operations in... Microsoft has opened a new front in the AI data wars, blocking partners from connecting their...

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev. Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Robinhood’s Private Startup Fund Could Open the Floodgates

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 18, 2026 8:00am PST · 2 comments

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev. Bloomberg via Getty Images.

The Information Finance

Robinhood’s Private Startup Fund Could Open the Floodgates

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 18, 2026 8:00am PST · 2 comments

A soon to be listed Robinhood fund that invests in private startups could lay a path for Silicon Valley—including VC firms—to raise more money from individual investors. Robinhood is raising $1 billion for the fund, which has the New York Stock Exchange ticker of RVI. The fund, Robinhood says, will invest in “best-in-class” private... A soon to be listed Robinhood fund that invests in private startups could lay a path for Silicon...

Businesses Still Dream of Using AI to Replace Enterprise Apps

Businesses Still Dream of Using AI to Replace Enterprise Apps

By Kevin McLaughlin and Aaron Holmes · Nov 20, 2025 10:45am PST · 1 comment

We’ve been hearing for years about the theoretical threat AI poses to enterprise software apps like Salesforce, ServiceNow and Workday. While a disaster scenario for these firms hasn’t happened because AI generally isn’t reliable enough to duplicate what they do, some customers are still trying to use the latest AI models to replace those apps... We’ve been hearing for years about the theoretical threat AI poses to enterprise software apps...

Secret Snowflake AI Revenue Figure Shows Brand-Name LLMs Reign Supreme

By Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 14, 2025 1:02pm PDT

For all the talk about the rise of low-cost or open-source AI models, enterprises are still gravitating to brand-name models from OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. That’s prompting database providers like Snowflake, Databricks and Oracle to strike deals allowing database customers to use the brand-name AI to build chatbots and search tools that... For all the talk about the rise of low-cost or open-source AI models, enterprises are still...

Snowflake CEO, Sridhar Ramaswamy. Photo by Getty

Snowflake in Talks to Acquire Analytics Startup Redpanda

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jan 29, 2025 2:38pm PST · 1 comment

Database provider Snowflake this week discussed an acquisition of Redpanda, a data analysis software startup valued at around $500 million in 2023, according to a person who has been part of the talks. An acquisition of the firm could upgrade Snowflake’s artificial intelligence services, an area where the company has lagged rivals such as... Database provider Snowflake this week discussed an acquisition of Redpanda, a data analysis...

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Why Research Talent Still Costs So Much

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 9, 2025 7:20am PST

Photo via Getty

Why Research Talent Still Costs So Much

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 9, 2025 7:20am PST

One of the rarest resources in artificial intelligence—perhaps even more than Nvidia servers or training data—is the people who make it. Founders tell me that the shortage of talent that can develop and improve language and vision models is still extreme, two years into the conversational AI boom.That’s demonstrated by recent developments at... One of the rarest resources in artificial intelligence—perhaps even more than Nvidia servers or...

Art by Clark Miller

The Future of Software Engineers and Industries We’re Watching in 2025

By Jon Victor · Jan 7, 2025 1:15pm PST · 1 comment

Welcome to Applied AI, The Information’s twice-weekly newsletter that will take you inside how businesses are using artificial intelligence.I’m Jon Victor, the lead writer for Applied AI. For seven years I have been reporting on technology and most recently on how businesses are using AI. I recently interviewed Marc Benioff for a profile of... Welcome to Applied AI, The Information’s twice-weekly newsletter that will take you inside how...

Peter DeSantis, Senior Vice President of AWS Utility Computing, at Amazon Re:Invent. Photo via Amazon.

Q&A

Amazon Tries to Lure Cloud Customers Away From Nvidia

By Anissa Gardizy · Dec 4, 2024 5:26pm PST · 1 comment

Amazon, like other cloud providers, makes money from artificial intelligence primarily by renting out servers powered by Nvidia’s AI chips to software developers and businesses. But now, Amazon Web Services is trying to convince those customers to use servers powered by Amazon’s own AI chips instead, said Gadi Hutt, who leads... Amazon, like other cloud providers, makes money from artificial intelligence primarily by renting...

Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy. Photo via Getty.

Snowflake Talks With Anthropic About AI Partnership

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 20, 2024 7:47am PST

Database provider Snowflake is talking with OpenAI rival Anthropic about letting Snowflake’s customers use Anthropic’s large language models to build artificial intelligence–powered applications, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The Anthropic agreement, if consummated, could help CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy... Database provider Snowflake is talking with OpenAI rival Anthropic about letting...

Photo by Erin Beach

Musk’s Rivals Take Jabs at His GPU Cluster, Nvidia’s Cuda Weakness, Enterprise AI Use Cases: Summit Highlights

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 6, 2024 7:00am PDT · 4 comments

Photo by Erin Beach

Musk’s Rivals Take Jabs at His GPU Cluster, Nvidia’s Cuda Weakness, Enterprise AI Use Cases: Summit Highlights

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 6, 2024 7:00am PDT · 4 comments

I’m still buzzing from getting to meet so many of you yesterday at our first-ever AI Summit. We got to talk all things LLMs, chips and AI applications with leaders such as Reid Hoffman, one of the earliest investors in OpenAI and a Microsoft board director; Chris Lattner, who helped Google launch their tensor processing units and TensorFlow... I’m still buzzing from getting to meet so many of you yesterday at our first-ever AI Summit. We...

Hans Swildens. Photo By Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty.

What to Do With Startups Whose Revenue Has Stalled

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 18, 2024 3:00pm PDT

Even with a dormant market for initial public offerings, shareholders in mature and highly valued startups still have been able to cash out if their startups are growing at a rapid clip. They’ve had the opportunity to sell shares in secondary rounds at fast-growing Figma, Databricks, Canva and Scale AI. Some investors are getting the chance... Even with a dormant market for initial public offerings, shareholders in mature and highly valued...

How ChatGPT is Roiling 13 Software Companies

By Kevin McLaughlin, Aaron Holmes and Anissa Gardizy · Apr 24, 2023 6:00am PDT · 7 comments

Big software companies including Microsoft and Salesforce are racing to incorporate the technology behind ChatGPT, known as generative artificial intelligence, into their products to attract new users and boost profits. But the rapidly advancing technology threatens other companies that have spent years crafting software to automate tasks or to... Big software companies including Microsoft and Salesforce are racing to incorporate the...

Photo via Tiger Global Management.

Tiger Partner John Curtius is Leaving to Launch His Own Fund

By Kate Clark · Oct 3, 2022 3:54pm PDT · 4 comments

Tiger Global Management partner John Curtius plans to leave the firm next year to launch his own fund called Cedar Investment Management, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Curtius, one of Tiger’s most active startup investors, shook up Silicon Valley by backing more than 200 private companies since joining Tiger in... Tiger Global Management partner John Curtius plans to leave the firm next year to launch his own...