On Friday, OpenAI announced that it has completed the acquisition of database retrieval and analysis company Rockset. The company will integrate Rockset’s technology and personnel to strengthen the search infrastructure for various products.
According to public information, Rockset was founded in 2016 by former Facebook engineers Venkat Venkataraman, Tudor Bosman, and architect Dhruba Borthakur. The tool they developed aims to help customers automatically retrieve data from various local and cloud databases, and establish indexes for subsequent retrieval and analysis applications.
Rockset provides a key technology called ‘vector search’. As more and more companies use artificial intelligence to drive recommendation engines, voice assistants, chatbots, and other applications, the application scenarios of this technology are becoming increasingly broad. As a concrete example, JetBlue Airways has purchased Rockset’s technology to support flight delay prediction chatbots.
OpenAI did not disclose the specific amount of the transaction. Rockset revealed in August last year that it had raised over $100 million in funding since its establishment, including investments from the venture capital departments of Greylock, Sequoia Capital, and Huihe Technology.
According to a spokesperson for OpenAI, this acquisition is also the first time that the company has integrated the technology and employees of the acquiring company simultaneously.
In fact, before Friday’s acquisition, OpenAI had only announced one official acquisition in the past – buying digital product design company Global Illumination in August last year. However, the core purpose of that acquisition is to bring the 8-person development team of Global Illumination into OpenAI to support the development of core products including ChatGPT. Given that this team excels in visual development, it is reasonable to assume that they have already made contributions in the “Wenshengtu” and “Wenshengvideo” products.
What is the purpose of the acquisition?
OpenAI stated in the announcement that AI has the opportunity to transform the way consumers and institutions utilize their data, and Rockset is a leading real-time database analytics provider in the market, providing world-class data indexing and querying capabilities. These technologies enable users, developers, and businesses to better utilize their data, access real-time information, and improve efficiency when using AI products and building smarter applications.
Brad Lightcap, Chief Operating Officer of OpenAI, stated that Rockset’s infrastructure enables the company to transform data into “actionable intelligence,” and he is pleased to integrate these foundations into OpenAI’s products.
Venkataraman, CEO of Rockset, also issued a public statement stating that after the acquisition, Rockset will become a part of OpenAI, helping OpenAI solve the database challenges that artificial intelligence applications are facing on a large scale. Existing customers will gradually migrate, and the team is committed to ensuring a smooth transition.
This acquisition also demonstrates OpenAI’s emphasis on the B2B business since the beginning of this year. In the past two months, OpenAI has signed a resale cooperation agreement with PwC and launched customized model tuning and consulting services for enterprise users. According to reports, these measures have raised OpenAI’s latest annual revenue forecast to $3.4 billion.
At the same time, Rockset’s accumulation in vector search can also help OpenAI enhance its ability to quickly access and analyze large amounts of information. Previously, there were reports that OpenAI is developing a search engine product that may directly compete with companies such as Google and Perplexity.
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