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The artificial intelligence (AI) track is still thriving under the continued attention of capital. While most companies spare no effort to reduce costs and improve efficiency, the enthusiasm for investment in the AI field has not waned. Recently, Databricks, a maker of data analytics and AI software, announced a successful funding of more than $500 million, and its valuation soared to $43 billion, an increase of $5 billion from the previous round. This round of financing was led by Puxin Group, followed by Capital One Ventures, NVIDIA, etc., and participated by Octahedron Capital, Tiger Global Fund, Morgan Stanley's Counterpoint Global, etc.
Databricks has focused on data analytics since its inception in 2013, and its founder is the starter of the high-profile Apache Spark open source data analysis engine. Databricks is known for its unique lakehouse platform, which combines a data warehouse and a data lake to unify data, analytics and AI deployments on a single platform, enabling customers to easily manage enterprise data, mine insights, and quickly create their own generative AI solutions.
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The boom in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is still raging, and capital is investing in it as it was.
Most companies are looking for ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency, but AI investment continues to heat up. In the latest news, Databricks, a developer of data analytics and artificial intelligence software, announced that it had successfully raised more than $500 million, and its valuation soared to $43 billion, an increase of $5 billion from the previous funding round. This round of financing was jointly led by Proxin Group, while Capital One Ventures, NVIDIA and other companies have followed, and investors such as Octahedron Capital, Tiger Global Fund, and Morgan Stanley's Counterpoint Global have joined the fund.
Founded in 2013, Databricks has been focusing on data analytics and its founder is the original creator of the high-profile Apache Spark open source data analytics engine. However, Databricks is best known for its lakehouse platform, a comprehensive system that integrates data warehouse and data lake, which can unify the deployment of data, analysis and AI on a single platform, allowing customers to easily manage enterprise data, dig deep into the value contained therein, and quickly create their own generative AI solutions.
Some industry experts pointed out that Databricks is no longer "short of money" in fact. It's reminiscent of whether this round looks like the last wave of funding before the IPO, or whether it is a move to attract strategic investors such as Nvidia. NVIDIA has become the biggest beneficiary of the generative AI era, and chip giants such as Intel and AMD are also trying to eat the AI computing market through the collaborative optimization of software and hardware. At the same time, whether domestic AI chip companies can seize the dividends of this large model training and deployment has also become a key focus in the market.
Just recently, Amazon announced that it would invest four billion dollars in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic and hold a partial stake in it. Market sources revealed that Anthropic has successfully developed the chatbot Claude, which is considered to be the main competitor of OpenAI and Google in generative AI products. It is worth mentioning that this is also the first time that Amazon has independently established such a significant business connection with a company's chatbot. Amazon's rivals Microsoft and Google have invested heavily in their respective chatbot platforms.
For example, Microsoft has invested more than 10 billion dollars in OpenAI, Google has launched its own Bard chatbot, and Meta has invested in its own Llama platform.
In addition, edge AI computing company Kneron recently announced that it has successfully completed a series B financing of nearly US$97 million, led by "Victoria Harbor Investment" founded by Li Ka-shing, founder of Changjiang Industrial, and institutions such as Lite-On Technology, ADATA Technology, Foxconn and Heshun Hing Fund have also participated in the investment. Meanwhile, U.S. artificial intelligence company OpenAI is also negotiating with investors about the sale of existing shares.
If successful, OpenAI's valuation will soar to between $80 billion and $90 billion. Compared to a valuation of $27 billion to $29 billion when it closed in April, OpenAI's valuation has nearly tripled in just a few months. Not exactly
According to the plan, the "AI unicorns" valued at more than a billion dollars this year have basically accepted large investments from Microsoft or Google. Industry insiders believe that the reason why the giants support these unicorns is that on the one hand, they value future financial returns, on the other hand, they also value the technical advantages of these AI unicorns, which also makes up for the giants' own shortcomings in innovation.