OpenAI just made its second acquisition in the form of Rockset, an enterprise search and analytics startup. This acquisition is the largest in OpenAI’s history so far.
In a blog post on the matter, OpenAI revealed plans to integrate Rockset’s cutting-edge technology into its platform to enable business customers and developers to harness their data more effectively. The integration is expected to enhance OpenAI’s existing infrastructure, providing real-time data retrieval and analytics capabilities that are critical for various applications. Members of Rockset’s team will join OpenAI, bringing their expertise to help smooth the transition and ensure the successful incorporation of Rockset’s technology. For now, the financial details of the acquisition remain undisclosed.
“I’m excited to share that OpenAI has completed the acquisition of Rockset. We are thrilled to join the OpenAI team and bring our technology and expertise to building safe and beneficial AGI,” Venkat Venkataramani, CEO of Rockset, announced in a blog post. “Rockset will become part of OpenAI and power the retrieval infrastructure backing OpenAI’s product suite. We’ll be helping OpenAI solve the hard database problems that AI apps face at massive scale. Existing Rockset customers will experience no immediate change. We will gradually transition current customers off Rockset and are committed to ensuring a smooth process,” he added.
We’ve acquired Rockset, a leading real-time analytics database that provides world-class data indexing and querying capabilities. We'll integrate Rockset’s technology across our products, empowering companies to transform their data into actionable intelligence.…
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) June 21, 2024
The acquisition comes amid intense competition in the AI industry, with OpenAI vying against rivals like Anthropic and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. These companies are in a race to develop the most advanced AI models and offer compelling services that cater to the needs of business clients. This has been beneficial for the likes of OpenAI, whose valuation soared to $86 billion in a recent tender offer. Furthermore, the integration of Rockset’s technology is expected to significantly boost OpenAI’s annualized revenue, which is projected to exceed $3.4 billion this year.
As for Rockset, it was founded in 2016 by ex-Facebook engineers Venkat Venkataramani, Tudor Bosman, and database architect Dhruba Borthakur, and has since established itself as a formidable player in data analytics. The company specializes in technology that retrieves, indexes, and makes data searchable for business clients across sectors such as gaming and fintech. In August, Rockset secured $44 million in funding led by Icon Ventures, with participation from prominent investors like Sequoia and Greylock, bringing its total capital raised to $105 million.
This acquisition is likely to be a fruitful one for both firms. OpenAI excels in creating powerful AI models, but these models require vast amounts of high-quality data to function effectively. Rockset, on the other hand, possesses expertise in real-time data processing and vector search, which facilitates the efficient retrieval of similar data points. This technology is crucial for AI applications like recommendation engines, voice assistants, and chatbots. “Rockset’s infrastructure empowers companies to transform their data into actionable intelligence. We’re excited to bring these benefits to our customers by integrating Rockset’s foundation into OpenAI products” Brad Lightcap, OpenAI COO, commented on the matter.
