It had been just over three months since Databricks surpassed the symbolic milestone of $100 billion in valuation. It is now valued at $134 billion, thanks to a fundraising round with Insight Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and JP Morgan.
With this new round of funding, Databricks is giving itself the means to take its vision of artificial intelligence much further. Its main goal is to lay the groundwork that will enable companies to create AI tools capable of acting more autonomously, for example to analyze data, propose actions, or automate certain decisions. To achieve this, Databricks wants to radically simplify the way data is stored, managed, and used, so that these systems run more smoothly and reliably. But this $4 billion fundraising round is not just about preparing for the future of AI. Databricks also wants to meet the very real needs of businesses, such as the day-to-day management of their data and applications. The idea is to offer solutions that are easier to manage, more automated, and capable of operating on a large scale without technical complexity. Ultimately, this could even allow companies to do away with certain traditional tools that are older and more expensive.
Finally, this fundraising will support the growth of Databricks itself. The company plans to invest in research, acquire young companies specializing in artificial intelligence, and recruit heavily. Hundreds of jobs will be created in the United States, and thousands more in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. After partnering with CipherSense AI to accelerate the deployment of AI in Africa, Databricks is committing even more deeply to the development and adoption of artificial intelligence.
