Databricks and Snowflake in talks to buy AI search startup Voyage, reports

Databricks and Snowflake are reportedly in talks with Voyage AI, a rising star in AI search technology, about a potential acquisition, according to an exclusive report from The Information. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that representatives from both companies have engaged with Voyage AI’s leadership, reflecting the growing competition to dominate the generative AI space.

The two rivals, known for their influence in data management, appear to be aligning their focus on leveraging generative AI to enhance how businesses navigate and extract value from their data. Their mutual interest in Voyage AI underscores the startup’s potential to redefine AI-powered search.

“In recent weeks, representatives from Databricks and Snowflake have talked to the leaders of Voyage AI, a year-old startup both companies backed, about a potential acquisition, according to three people who have spoken about the deal with company leaders,” The Information reported.

Databricks and Snowflake Eye Potential Acquisition of AI Search Startup Voyage AI

The startup, founded in 2023 by Stanford researchers, specializes in developing AI models that enhance search accuracy and relevance.

Voyage AI recently made headlines with a $20 million Series A funding round in October, which brought its total funding to $28 million. The round was led by CRV, with participation from Wing VC, Conviction, and other notable investors, including Databricks and Snowflake. This backing underscores the growing demand for advanced search tools tailored to unstructured data.

Alongside the funding announcement, Voyage introduced new general-purpose embedding models and rerankers: voyage-3 and voyage-3-lite. These models are designed to improve retrieval accuracy and cost efficiency. For instance, voyage-3 delivers 7.55% better accuracy than OpenAI’s latest large embedding model, while cutting costs by more than half. Voyage-3-lite offers similar advantages, excelling in retrieval accuracy at a fraction of the cost.

Both models also support a 32K-token context length, quadrupling OpenAI’s offering in this category. This capability is especially valuable for businesses handling large-scale unstructured data.

Voyage AI aims to redefine search and retrieval in retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). Its models are crafted to deliver top-tier performance across accuracy, latency, and cost metrics. The company also offers specialized solutions for industries like finance, law, and software development, catering to specific needs with precision.

Voyage AI’s rapid ascent and innovative technology have positioned it as a sought-after partner for major players like Databricks and Snowflake. Whether this acquisition materializes or not, the startup’s impact on AI-powered search continues to draw significant attention.

Below is a YouTube video featuring Voyage AI founder Tengyu Ma, where he explores Deep Reinforcement Learning—a machine learning method that uses deep neural networks alongside reinforcement learning techniques to teach agents how to optimize actions through interaction and reward-based learning.