Databricks reaches $188 billion valuation, expanding its position as AI’s favorite second act

Databricks on Thursday introduced a brand new funding spherical that values ​​the corporate at $188 billion. Cotu led this spherical.

Databricks didn’t disclose the precise quantity raised. He stated the funds weren’t but in hand and the spherical would shut later this summer time. (Different information shops have since reported that the increase was about $3 billion.) It is uncommon for a corporation to announce earlier than it receives funding, however one enterprise capitalist informed newsweblatest that the deal was strong, with so many firms eager to take part that there was no purpose to maintain its shiny new valuation a secret.

In truth, Databricks has struggled to boost funding for a 12 months and a half because it efficiently shifts its picture to an AI supplier slightly than simply the SaaS sensation of yesteryear. It was again within the BC period (earlier than ChatGPT).

Simply 5 months in the past, in February, Databricks accomplished a $5 billion Collection L funding at a valuation of $134 billion. 5 months earlier, in September 2025, it had raised $1 billion at a valuation of $100 billion. Roughly 9 months earlier, in December 2024, the corporate raised a then-record spherical of $10 billion at a valuation of $62 billion.

Databricks has raised a lot cash over time that this newest funding spherical turned the topic of a meme about operating out of letters of the alphabet. “I will activate alerts when Collection AA comes out,” one individual posted.

However the reimaging was warranted. Based in 2013, the corporate initially discovered success within the large knowledge period with its software program that enables firms to retailer huge quantities of information within the cloud whereas performing fast evaluation.

As a result of Databricks already existed in a treasure trove of enterprise knowledge, it was well-positioned to reply when enterprises began demanding AI with the identical safety and governance they anticipate from conventional enterprise software program.

The corporate started rolling out extra AI merchandise, together with Lakebase, a database constructed for AI brokers, and a “metaharness” known as Omnigent to handle a number of brokers, in addition to Unity, an AI gateway.

Databricks has additionally turn into often known as one of many large examples of firms adopting a extra reasonably priced China-based open-weight mannequin (the place the underlying code is open for anybody to make use of and modify) to regulate prices, one of many large developments of 2026. Databricks is a selected supporter of Z.ai’s GLM 5.2 as a mannequin for coding.

Final week, Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi shared the outcomes of an inside benchmark he carried out to handle AI prices for 3,000 software program engineers.

The corporate in contrast its AI fashions primarily based on real-life duties carried out by programmers. Unsurprisingly, in a weblog submit revealing the outcomes, Databricks shared that “open fashions, particularly GLM 5.2, are actually capable of deal with even the very best ranges of process issue in coding” at decrease complete prices than proprietary fashions from Anthropic and OpenAI.

However folks have been shocked to search out that the selection of harness (an agent-coding software reminiscent of Codex or Claude Code, which wraps a mannequin and manages its context and directions) impacts value simply as a lot. We discovered the open supply Harness Pi to be the most effective at managing the context surrounding every immediate, and due to this fact one of many lowest value choices with out sacrificing high quality.

“The lesson right here is just not that some harnesses are at all times cheaper or that home harnesses are inferior,” the submit declared. “Quite, mannequin choice is only one piece of the puzzle.”

All of this additional strengthened Databricks’ picture as an AI firm, regardless that it wasn’t based as an AI lab. This gave the corporate the good thing about AI to boost capital and dramatically enhance its valuation. As we beforehand reported, the influence of AI nowadays is so sturdy that even sandwich store Jersey Mike’s mentions AI 22 instances in its S-1 paperwork.