Databricks Boosts Sales Forecast, Driving Valuation to $134 Billion

Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi has been more vocal than other Silicon Valley executives about the dangers of an AI bubble. His company’s new $5 billion round of fundraising, at a higher valuation than ever, epitomizes the risks and rewards of the boom: While sales are growing faster than forecast, AI development costs are squeezing gross profit margins.

Privately held Databricks began asking investors for cash two weeks ago in a fundraising round that values the company at $134 billion, which is roughly 32 times this year’s expected sales of about $4.1 billion, according to investor documents and a person familiar with the matter. Last year, Databricks raised cash at 24 times that year’s sales, and the year before, at 26 times.