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

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia. Photo by Daniel Heuer/Getty Images

Where Nvidia’s $100 Billion Dealmaking Juggernaut Will Go Next

By Valida Pau and Phoebe Liu · Oct 7, 2026 6:00am PDT

This July, Nvidia caught wind of a looming takeover of OpenRouter, a three-year-old startup that had emerged as a popular marketplace for AI models, including many cheaper open-source ones. Databricks and Stripe had already been talking to the startup about a potential sale. Nvidia was late to the party. The chipmaker’s CEO, Jensen Huang, wanted... This July, Nvidia caught wind of a looming takeover of OpenRouter, a three-year-old startup that...

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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,...

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...

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...

Partner Content

Financing the AI Revolution Recap: AI and the IPO Market

By The Information Partnerships · May 5, 2025 2:12pm PDT

After a yearslong slump in the initial public offering market, 2025 was poised to be the year exits made a comeback, with many big companies in tech and artificial intelligence—including Databricks, Chime, StubHub and Klarna—primed to hit the exchange and deliver a long-anticipated return on investment. All of that was before Trump’s on-again,... After a yearslong slump in the initial public offering market, 2025 was poised to be the year...

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...

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 via AP

Snowflake Looks to an AI Deal to Jump-Start Growth

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 8, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Snowflake had been riding high before the artificial intelligence boom. But questions about the usefulness of its data management products for AI developers—a growing source of revenue for rivals like Databricks—and a broader pullback in business software spending have sent its stock plummeting 42% so far this year. Now, in an effort... Snowflake had been riding high before the artificial intelligence boom. But questions about the...

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

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...

The Information 50

What We Learned From The Information’s 50 Most Promising Startups

By Amir Efrati · Oct 25, 2022 6:50am PDT · 15 comments

After splurging in 2020 and 2021, investors this year turned less generous toward startups. But that didn’t slow the pipeline of promising companies that could become the next ByteDance, Stripe or Databricks. The third edition of The Information’s 50 most promising startups looked for the next big winners in artificial intelligence... After splurging in 2020 and 2021, investors this year turned less generous toward startups. But...

Art by Mike Sullivan

How the Myth of the Hot Round Hurts Founders

By Aaron Harris · Feb 16, 2022 9:00am PST · 11 comments

Here's a fun little paradox in fundraising: Founders and the media love to talk about how quickly funding rounds happen these days—think about the big, rapid-fire raises from OpenSea, DataBricks and others—but when you watch a fundraising process from start to finish, it’s never as fast as it seems. Even the tidiest-looking... Here's a fun little paradox in fundraising: Founders and the media love to talk about how...