Databricks has announced its definitive agreement to acquire MosaicML, a pioneer in large language models (LLMs).

This strategic move aims to make generative AI accessible to organisations of all sizes, allowing them to develop, possess, and safeguard their own generative AI models using their own data. 

The acquisition, valued at ~$1.3 billion – inclusive of retention packages – showcases Databricks’ commitment to democratising AI and reinforcing the company’s Lakehouse platform as a leading environment for building generative AI and LLMs.

Naveen Rao, Co-Founder and CEO at MosaicML, said:

“At MosaicML, we believe in a world where everyone is empowered to build and train their own models, imbued with their own opinions and viewpoints — and joining forces with Databricks will help us make that belief a reality.

We started MosaicML to solve the hard engineering and research problems necessary to make large-scale training more accessible to everyone. With the recent generative AI wave, this mission has taken centre stage.

Together with Databricks, we will tip the scales in the favour of many — and we’ll do it as kindred spirits: researchers turned entrepreneurs sharing a similar mission. We look forward to continuing this journey together with the AI community.”

MosaicML has gained recognition for its cutting-edge MPT large language models, with millions of downloads for MPT-7B and the recent release of MPT-30B.

The platform has demonstrated how organisations can swiftly construct and train their own state-of-the-art models cost-effectively by utilising their own data. Esteemed customers like AI2, Generally Intelligent, Hippocratic AI, Replit, and Scatter Labs have leveraged MosaicML for a diverse range of generative AI applications.

The primary objective of this acquisition is to provide organisations with a simple and rapid method to develop, own, and secure their models. By combining the capabilities of Databricks’ Lakehouse Platform with MosaicML’s technology, customers can maintain control, security, and ownership of their valuable data without incurring exorbitant costs.

MosaicML’s automatic optimisation of model training enables 2x-7x faster training compared to standard approaches, and the near linear scaling of resources allows for the training of multi-billion-parameter models within hours. Consequently, Databricks and MosaicML aim to reduce the cost of training and utilising LLMs from millions to thousands of dollars.

The integration of Databricks’ unified Data and AI platform with MosaicML’s generative AI training capabilities will result in a robust and flexible platform capable of serving the largest organisations and addressing various AI use cases.

Upon the completion of the transaction, the entire MosaicML team – including its renowned research team – is expected to join Databricks.

MosaicML’s machine learning and neural networks experts are at the forefront of AI research, striving to enhance model training efficiency. They have contributed to popular open-source foundational models like MPT-30B, as well as the training algorithms powering MosaicML’s products.

The MosaicML platform will be progressively supported, scaled, and integrated to provide customers with a seamless unified platform where they can build, own, and secure their generative AI models. The partnership between Databricks and MosaicML empowers customers with the freedom to construct their own models, train them using their unique data, and develop differentiating intellectual property for their businesses.

The completion of the proposed acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory clearances.

(Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash)

See also: MosaicML’s latest models outperform GPT-3 with just 30B parameters

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