Overview
- Databricks said on Thursday it will extend its strategic partnership with Microsoft into the 2030s and increase its use of Azure to run core business operations and analytics.
- The company will boost use of Microsoft’s Azure Cobalt custom Arm processors, moving from Cobalt 100 toward Cobalt 200 to improve performance and memory encryption for data‑intensive and agentic workloads.
- Microsoft will deepen product integration of Databricks capabilities, including the conversational analytics tool Genie and the Unity AI Gateway, across Microsoft 365, Power Platform, Azure Foundry and other Azure services.
- Databricks also confirmed it has signed off on a funding round that values the company at $188 billion, with the round expected to close later this summer.
- The deal strengthens Azure’s hold on the enterprise AI stack by matching governed data access, logging and audit needs that large customers require, which experts say will push crypto‑native and decentralized AI projects toward integration rather than direct replacement.