Databricks targets $175 billion valuation as AI's private-market frenzy rolls on

Crypto Insight Summary: Databricks is negotiating a new funding round that would value the data and AI company at $165 billion to $175 billion, up 30% from its $134 billion valuation in February 2026. The company reported a $5.4 billion annual revenue run rate earlier this year, a 65% increase year-over-year, with $1.4 billion coming from AI products. Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi has indicated a public listing is still planned, possibly as early as 2027, though he described 2026 as the "worst year" for IPOs due to competition from companies like SpaceX. The broader AI private market is inflating rapidly, with OpenAI reaching an implied $1 trillion pre-IPO valuation and Anthropic closing a round at $965 billion. Both OpenAI and Anthropic have filed IPO paperwork but have not yet launched their offerings. Concerns about an AI bubble are growing, as over half of nearly $2 trillion in future cloud revenue booked by Microsoft, Oracle, Alphabet, and Amazon is tied to OpenAI and Anthropic. Critics point to a circular flow in which cloud credits provided to AI startups are spent back at the same tech giants, inflating reported revenue. OpenAI's annual cloud bill exceeds $60 billion against roughly $25 billion in revenue, while Anthropic spent about $2.66 billion on AWS in nine months, nearly matching its revenue. OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Waymo together accounted for 63% of all venture capital raised in the first quarter of 2026. Crypto Insight Analysis: Direction: Neutral Impact: Minor Impact Horizon: Short-term (1-3 days) Reasoning: AI private market hype may boost sentiment but lacks direct crypto impact.