IBM To Buy DataStax, Expand Watsonx AI Portfolio’s Data Management Capabilities

IBM said Tuesday it has a deal to acquire DataStax, including that company’s database platform, data streaming technology, and development tools for building data-intensive AI applications that use retrieval augmented generation.

IBM is acquiring DataStax and its cloud database development platform in a move to expand the capabilities of the IBM Watsonx AI portfolio, the companies said Tuesday.

IBM, in a statement announcing the acquisition deal, said adding DataStax to Watsonx will accelerate the use of generative AI at scale among its customers and help “unlock value” from huge volumes of unstructured data.

The IT giant also said the acquisition builds on its commitment to open-source AI: DataStax’s Astra DB cloud platform and DataStax Enterprise NoSQL and vector database are built on the open-source Apache Cassandra database for managing large amounts of data distributed across multiple locations.

“The strategic acquisition of DataStax brings cutting-edge capabilities in managing unstructured and semi-structured data to Watsonx, building on open-source Cassandra investments for enterprise applications and enabling clients to modernize and develop next generation AI applications,” said Ritika Gunnar, IBM general manager, data and AI, in a blog post.

“With DataStax’s AstraDB and DataStax Enterprise, Watsonx will leverage robust capabilities of NoSQL and advanced vector representations. Our combined technology will capture richer, more nuanced representations of knowledge, ultimately leading to more efficient and accurate outcomes,” Gunnar said.

“We have long said that there is no AI without data, and this vision will now be propelled as DataStax joins IBM,” DataStax CEO Chet Kapoor said in his own blog post about the acquisition deal. “With our technologies and IBM’s Watsonx.data, their hybrid, open data lakehouse, we will be able to bring vector and AI search to the entire data estate and make IBM’s capabilities available to every developer.”

In addition to its database, DataStax’s product portfolio also includes Astra Streaming for building real-time data pipelines, the DataStax AI Platform for building and deploying AI applications, and an enterprise AI platform that incorporates Nvidia AI technology.

“By harnessing DataStax's expertise in managing large-scale, unstructured data and combining it with Watsonx's innovative data AI solutions, we will provide enterprise ready data for AI with better data performance, search relevancy, and overall operational efficiency,” Gunnar said.

Another key attraction for IBM is DataStax’s Langflow open-source, low-code tools for developing AI applications that use retrieval augmented generation (RAG). DataStax acquired those tools in April 2024 when it bought Langflow, the company.

“Langflow empowers developers to rapidly prototype, build, and deploy RAG and multi-agent AI applications with simplicity,” Gunnar wrote. “By providing a low-code interface, it simplifies the complex integration of generative AI models, data processing, and AI workflows, enabling developers to focus on creating intelligent generative AI applications rather than managing technical integrations and complexity associated with building AI applications.”

IBM did not disclose financial details of the planned acquisition, which is expected to be completed sometime in the second quarter of this year, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

DataStax, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., is privately held. The company raised $115 million in a private equity funding round led by Goldman Sachs in June 2022. Altogether the company raised $342.6 million, according to the Crunchbase website.

IBM is in the process of acquiring HashiCorp, a developer of infrastructure and security automation tools, for $6.4 billion. While that acquisition was originally slated to close by the end of 2024, it has been held up by regulators, including in the U.K. But on Tuesday the U.K. regulatory body, The Competition and Markets Authority, posted a notice saying the CMA had cleared IBM’s acquisition of HashiCorp.