Snowflake Data Cloud Partners with Reka for Multimodal LLMs
Snowflake Data Cloud has recently announced its partnership with Reka, an AI startup founded by researchers from leading organizations like DeepMind, Google, and Meta. This collaboration aims to integrate Reka’s proprietary large language models (LLMs) into Snowflake’s data platform, enabling enterprises to create generative AI applications that work with not only text inputs but also images and videos.
The partnership follows Snowflake’s participation in Reka’s $60 million funding round last year, signaling a deepening relationship between the two companies. Baris Gultekin, Head of Product Management at Snowflake AI, stated that the company is committed to exploring innovative ways to support partners and drive customer-centric innovation.
Evolution of Snowflake’s Data Infrastructure
Since its inception, Snowflake has focused on becoming the data infrastructure provider of choice for its customers. The company has expanded its offerings from a simple data warehouse to a comprehensive data cloud that supports various data formats and capabilities, including AI and analytics. Last year, Snowflake launched Snowflake Cortex, a fully managed service designed for building LLM applications, further solidifying its position in the AI space.
Introduction of Reka Flash and Core Models
With the addition of Reka’s Flash and Core models to Snowflake Cortex, enterprises can harness the power of state-of-the-art AI models for their data analysis and application development needs. Reka Flash, a 21-billion parameter model, offers exceptional performance across language and vision benchmarks, while the Core model rivals leading models like GPT-4 and Gemini Ultra in terms of performance.
Snowflake plans to integrate the Flash model into Cortex immediately and is developing support for the Core model for future release. Baris Gultekin stated that Snowflake may include other Reka models, such as the Edge model, based on customer demand.
Benefits of Multimodal AI for Snowflake Users
By leveraging Snowflake Cortex and Reka’s AI models, users can develop generative AI applications that analyze text, images, and videos, enabling a wide range of use cases. From captioning videos to generating product descriptions, these applications offer innovative solutions that enhance business operations and customer experiences.
Currently, over 400 enterprises are utilizing Snowflake’s Cortex platform to build generative AI applications, with plans to expand the model offerings in the near future. Gultekin emphasized Snowflake’s commitment to democratizing AI and accelerating business value delivery through continuous innovation and partnerships like the one with Reka.
Future AI Innovations at Snowflake
Gultekin hinted at upcoming AI innovations and announcements leading up to Snowflake’s annual summit in June, emphasizing the company’s vision to empower users with AI tools for driving tangible business outcomes. The roadmap includes enhancing collaboration, productivity, and end-to-end AI and ML workflows within Snowflake’s secure and trusted data foundation.
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