Today, Databricks announced that it would pay $1.3 billion to acquire MosaicML, an open-source startup with neural network expertise that has built a platform for organizations to train large language models and deploy generative AI tools based on them.
According to PitchBook, MosaicML had secured slightly under $34 million from DCVC, AME Cloud Ventures, Frontline, Atlas, Playground Global, and Samsung Next. Its latest investor-round valuation was $136 million, so it leaped 10x with this departure, demonstrating how frenzied the AI industry is and how much people and tech are needed in the sector.
This is compared to OpenAI, which Microsoft valued at $40 billion in its latest round. Databricks stole here.
The Databricks Lakehouse Platform will add generative AI technology from MosaicML to its multi-cloud integration, storage, processing, governance, sharing, analytics, and AI services.
Today, OpenAI and its generative AI are all the rage. The Microsoft-backed parent of ChatGPT is not operating alone, as others are emerging and growing to capitalize on the spike of interest in the field.
MosaicAI performs well. MPT-7B, its penultimate LLM, has 3.3 million downloads.
Mosaic has two main differences. It’s open-source. Second, it emphasizes organizations creating LLMs from their data. MPT-30B, the company’s latest release, “has showcased how organizations can quickly build and train their own state-of-the-art models using their data in a cost-effective way.” Allen Institute for AI, Generally Intelligent, Hippocratic AI, Replit, and Scatter Labs use it.
“Every organization should benefit from the AI revolution with more data control. “Databricks and MosaicML have an incredible opportunity to democratize AI and make the Lakehouse the best place to build generative AI and LLMs,” stated Databricks co-founder and CEO Ali Ghodsi. Based on openness and open-source contributions, data bricks and MosaicML’s common goal will help clients traverse the biggest computing transformation of our time.
After the transaction, Databricks will hire the whole MosaicML team, which may explain the high price tag. Intel-trained CEO and co-founder Naveen Rao will stay.
“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,” he said.
“We founded MosaicML to solve difficult engineering and research problems to make large-scale training more accessible. This endeavor is in the spotlight due to generative AI. We’ll help many with Databricks as scholars turned entrepreneurs with a shared objective. We’re excited to continue with the AI community.”
