Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Last Invention is AI
Episode: Monolith Databricks $4B $134B
Date: December 24, 2025
Host: The Last Invention is AI

Episode Overview

This episode delves into Databricks’ remarkable fundraising milestone—raising $4 billion at a $134 billion valuation—and what that means for the company, its prospects of a near-term IPO, and the broader artificial intelligence (AI) industry. The host explores the unique position Databricks occupies in supporting the AI revolution, why private funding persists over IPOs, significant partnerships, and the implications for AI development worldwide.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Databricks’ $4B Raise and $134B Valuation

• Significance of the Raise:
  Databricks announced a $4 billion Series L raise, boosting its valuation to $134 billion—a 34% increase from three months ago.
  • “Databricks has just raised $4 billion at $134 billion valuation. Its AI business is heating up right now and people feel like the IPO window is starting to crack open.” [00:00]
• Unusual Funding Path:
  Series L rounds are rare, with Databricks achieving successively higher valuations through repeated private raises.
  • “This is Databrick's third major venture raise in less than a year.” [03:00]
• IPO Market Context:
  Recent years saw a “cold winter” for IPOs—even giants like Stripe and SpaceX stayed private. Startups can now amass “insane amounts of money” privately—OpenAI’s $40B round is cited as a prime example.
  • “It feels like the market for IPOs is starting to warm up a little bit. ... There are a ton of startups that have no intention of going public.” [01:00]
  • “What is the point of an IPO? I think Databricks is asking that question right now.” [01:40]

Databricks’ AI Focus

• Product Innovation:
  • Lakebase: Their new “database for AI agents,” built on open-source Postgres, was enabled by acquiring Neon for $1B. Targeted at “corporate developers.”
    • “Right now they're investing heavily into... their database for AI agents. They call this Lake Base.” [03:30]
  • Agent Bricks: Their agent platform helps enterprises build and deploy AI agents that utilize proprietary data.
    • “Their AI agent platform, called Agent Bricks, is also aimed at helping businesses build and deploy AI agents that can tap into their data.” [04:25]
  • Enterprise Apps: Offers user-friendly tools and layers that allow corporations to build custom AI and data apps.
• Strategic Deals:
  Databricks has forged high-value partnerships with giants like Anthropic and OpenAI, integrating their models and tools into enterprise products.
  • “They have some with Anthropic and also with OpenAI and they're offering their models within the enterprise products of OpenAI and Anthropic.” [04:55]
• Revenue Growth:
  The company’s run-rate revenue is now $4.8 billion, up 55% year-over-year. Over $1 billion of that comes from AI products alone.
  • “On Tuesday, Databricks said that it now generates a run rate revenue of more than $4.8 billion. And that's up 55% from a year ago. Of all of that, more than $1 billion came from its AI products.” [05:40]
• Industry Impact:
  The host points out that Databricks’ tools are foundational for the next wave of generative AI and “vibe coding.”

Use of Funds and Growth Plans

• Global Expansion:
  The new capital will fund thousands of new jobs across Asia, Europe, Latin America, and investments in AI research.
  • “The company is also going to use some of the new money to add thousands of new jobs in Asia, Europe, Latin America as well as bringing on a bunch of new AI research.” [07:15]
• Competition for Talent:
  The host references soaring compensation for top AI researchers, making recruitment highly competitive:
  • “We've seen Mark Zuckerberg offer, I mean, you know, he denies it, but basically billion dollar pay packages to AI researchers…” [07:35]

Leadership & Vision

• CEO Perspective:
  CEO Ali Godsee is quoted underscoring the transformative potential of AI and new coding paradigms for enterprises:
  • “Enterprises are rapidly reimagining how they build intelligent applications and the convergence of generative AI with new coding paradigms is opening the door to entirely new workloads.” [08:10]
• Backers & Signal to Market:
  The round was led by Insight Partners, Fidelity, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Andreessen Horowitz, BlackRock, Blackstone, and many other top names, with the notable absence of Nvidia.
  • “The only person I'm seeing missing here is Nvidia, who I typically would have expected on a round like this to contribute, but a lot of big players on this round.” [09:00]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Databricks has just raised $4 billion at $134 billion valuation. Its AI business is heating up right now and people feel like the IPO window is starting to crack open.” [00:00]
• “It feels like you can raise insane amounts of money, what is the... as a private company, what is the point of an IPO? I think Databricks is asking that question right now.” [01:40]
• “This is Databrick's third major venture raise in less than a year. And it comes right now. The company is focused on building products that help people in the AI revolution.” [03:00]
• “Right now they're investing very heavily into... their database for AI agents. They call this Lake Base. It's based on an open source database called Postgres, which is enabled by a $1 billion acquisition of a startup called Neon.” [03:35]
• “On Tuesday, Databricks said that it now generates a run rate revenue of more than $4.8 billion. And that's up 55% from a year ago. So of all of that, more than $1 billion came from its AI products.” [05:40]
• “The parallel rise of Vibe coding and generative AI is accelerating the development of AI intelligent applications in the enterprise.” [06:05]
• “The only person I'm seeing missing here is Nvidia, who I typically would have expected on a round like this to contribute, but a lot of big players on this round.” [09:00]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Databricks’ Raise & Valuation Context: [00:00 – 03:00]
• IPO Market Trends & Private Funding: [01:00 – 02:45]
• AI Product Development & Innovations: [03:30 – 05:00]
• Major Partnerships & Revenue Growth: [04:55 – 06:00]
• Global Expansion & Recruitment Challenges: [07:15 – 08:00]
• CEO Vision & Industry Impact: [08:10 – 09:00]
• Strategic Backers & Market Signal: [09:00 – 10:00]

Takeaways

• Databricks’ meteoric growth and successive venture raises position it as an AI infrastructure giant, with a growing suite of products central to the enterprise AI ecosystem.
• The private funding environment currently allows top AI companies to command extraordinary valuations and investor interest, challenging the traditional role of the IPO.
• Databricks’ partnerships, platform innovations, aggressive hiring, and decisive execution fuel its reputation as an essential enabler of AI’s commercial future.