Naveen Rao Launches AI Hardware Startup Backed by Databricks

Databricks co-founder and CEO Ali Ghodsi has announced that Naveen Rao, the company’s Vice President of AI, is launching a new startup aimed at redefining AI hardware. Ghodsi revealed the news on LinkedIn, calling Rao “an Entrepreneur with a capital E” and highlighting his track record of building transformative companies.

Rao previously founded Nervana Systems, which was acquired by Intel, and later co-founded MosaicML, a generative AI platform acquired by Databricks in 2023. At Databricks, he helped spearhead critical AI initiatives and will continue to advise the company while pursuing this new venture.

Although details remain limited, Rao described the project as an effort to rethink the foundations of compute for artificial intelligence, focusing on developing a new class of machines with brain-scale efficiency and vastly improved power performance. “I’m proud of what we built at Mosaic and Databricks,” Rao said.

“The new project is about rethinking the foundations of compute with respect to AI to build a new machine that is vastly more power-efficient. Brain Scale Efficiency! More details to come,” Rao said.

Databricks is investing in the startup, underscoring its strategy to support innovation across the broader AI ecosystem. Ghodsi expressed confidence that Rao’s new company could become “even bigger and more successful than Mosaic,” signaling major ambitions for the venture.