Health Strategy . Institute
multidisciplinary institute for
in-person health and
digital health strategy
Joaquim Cardoso MSc
Chief Research and Editor — of the Health Strategy Portal;
Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) — of the Health Strategy Institute (HSI),
Senior Advisor — for Boards and C-Level
June 27, 2023
Key Takeaways
Databricks has agreed to acquire MosaicML, an AI startup, in a mostly stock deal valued at $1.3 billion.
- The acquisition is part of Databricks’ efforts to create an ecosystem for enterprises to utilize open-source AI models.
MosaicML offers software tools that reduce the cost of AI work by facilitating training on large datasets using less expensive computer chips.
- The deal will combine Databricks’ AI technology with MosaicML’s language-model platform, enabling businesses to retain control and security over their data at a lower cost.
Databricks promotes open-source models as alternatives to offerings from companies like OpenAI and Google.
- Both Databricks and MosaicML have released open-source foundation models similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
MosaicML has raised $64 million in funding from investors including Lux Capital and DCVC.
Note from the Editor:
According to Suchi Saria (Bayesian Health), the trends are the following:
- the future is #domain-specific models over ChatGPT like generic domain-agnostic models (like it has been the case in most AI applications we have seen to date)
- we will likely see more acquisitions around infra companies focused on tuning.
- we will see acceleration of work on scalable, cost-effective infra for fine tuning. I imagine every cloud player will want to provide this service and Databricks was clever in snapping up MosaicML, one of the better known startups here.
- creating high value user facing apps is where the hard work and the bulk of the value creation will be; this requires bringing models into a pipeline with validated labels, rigorous evaluations, safety guardrails, great user experience. Bayesian Health is super focused on this last bullet and excited for the enormous opportunity to dramatically improve how care is delivered using #ai
- This is the first inning of the third AI wave in the past decade. Never a dull moment.
DEEP DIVE
Databricks strikes $1.3 billion deal for generative AI startup MosaicML
Reuters
By Tiyashi Datta and Krystal Hu
June 26, 2023
Databricks said on Monday it had agreed to acquire artificial intelligence (AI) startup MosaicML in a mostly stock deal valued at $1.3 billion, marking Databricks’ latest efforts to build an ecosystem for enterprises to use open-source AI models.
The deal comes at a time when AI is dominating the tech industry, with rapid AI thrusts coming from big tech, including Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), and venture capital investors pouring billions into funding AI startups in recent months.
San Francisco-based MosaicML provides software tools designed to make it cheaper to carry out AI work, which often involves training AI algorithms on huge troves of data using expensive computer chips. The company makes money selling the tools to firms that want to develop their own customized AI systems.
Databricks said the deal would combine its AI technology with MosaicML’s language-model platform, allowing businesses a “simple, fast way to retain control, security, and ownership over their valuable data without high costs”.
Databricks, which sells software tools for building AI systems, has been an advocate for open-source models, which it argues could rival the models players like OpenAI and Google are offering.
Both Databricks and MosaicML have released open-source foundation models, which is the category of core technology behind services like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Founded in 2021, MosaicML has raised $64 million to date from investors including Lux Capital and DCVC.
Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru and Krystal Hu in Toronto; Editing by Pooja Desai and Mark Potter
Originally published at https://www.reuters.com on June 26, 2023.
Names mentioned
- Databricks: Acquiring AI startup MosaicML, sells software tools for building AI systems, advocates for open-source models.
- MosaicML: AI startup being acquired by Databricks, provides software tools for cost-effective AI work, has a language-model platform.
- Alphabet’s Google: Big tech company involved in rapid AI development.
- Microsoft Corp: Big tech company involved in rapid AI development.
- Lux Capital: Investor in MosaicML, contributed to the company’s funding.
- DCVC: Investor in MosaicML, contributed to the company’s funding.
- Tiyashi Datta: Reporter based in Bengaluru.
- Krystal Hu: Reporter based in Toronto.
Brands mentioned
- Databricks
- MosaicML
- Alphabet’s Google
- Microsoft Corp
- OpenAI
