Microsoft-backed OpenAI, valued at USD 86 billion, acquired database analytics startup Rockset in an all-stock deal, and a surprising connection with Assam has emerged out of it.
Rockset, a US-based startup valued at a few hundred million, was co-founded by Assam-born Dhruba Borthakur, who previously worked with Facebook. While both companies did not disclose the size of the deal, it is already thought to be one of the largest acquisitions by OpenAI.
Dhruba is the son of Dr Arun Borthakur, a professor at the Department of Mathematics at Gauhati University. With 69 patents to his name, Dhruba's career includes pivotal roles such as an engineer on Facebook's database team, where he played a key role in developing the RocksDB data store. Previously, at Yahoo, he was instrumental in the creation of the Hadoop Distributed File System and contributed significantly to the Apache HBase project. His experience also spans roles at Veritas Software, founding an e-commerce startup called Oreceipt.com, and contributing to IBM-Transarc Labs' Andrew File System (AFS).
Rockset specializes in developing real-time search and analytics databases, leveraging artificial intelligence for applications such as chatbots and anomaly detection. The company has secured substantial backing from venture capital firms including Greylock, Sequoia, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise's venture arm, with total funding reaching $105 million as of last year.
Rockset's team is set to integrate with OpenAI, where their technology will fortify the retrieval infrastructure for OpenAI's enterprise products. This collaboration will leverage Rockset's proficiency in real-time data processing and vector search, enhancing OpenAI's capability to efficiently retrieve and analyze extensive datasets. This advancement is expected to enable faster and more precise responses from AI models, aimed at providing enterprise tools that facilitate rapid indexing and searching across diverse data sets.
OpenAI aims to maintain its leading position by expanding beyond its successful consumer product, ChatGPT. The organization is introducing ChatGPT Enterprise, a version tailored for large enterprises, along with its AI services APIs, targeted at executive-level decision-makers within these companies.
Furthermore, OpenAI is enhancing ChatGPT with additional functionalities and advancing the development of new AI models. This strategy is designed to fend off competition from tech giants like Alphabet's Google and emerging players such as Anthropic.
Recently, Reuters disclosed that OpenAI is in the process of developing a search engine product. This initiative is seen as a potential move to compete directly with Google and AI search startup Perplexity in the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence-driven search technologies.
