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.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 PotterKrystal reports on venture capital and startups for Reuters. She covers Silicon Valley and beyond through the lens of money and characters, with a focus on growth-stage startups, tech investments and AI. She has previously covered M&A for Reuters, breaking stories on Trump's SPAC and Elon Musk's Twitter financing.