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  • Databricks eyes $130B, challenges Palantir's lead💥|Microsoft boosts Azure with HorizonDB☁️|Zilliz and Pliops cut vector search costs drastically📄|Chinese Database Technologies

Databricks eyes $130B, challenges Palantir's lead💥|Microsoft boosts Azure with HorizonDB☁️|Zilliz and Pliops cut vector search costs drastically📄|Chinese Database Technologies

We don't get political around here...Just some real world info

Author

Gladstone Benjamin
November 24, 2025

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What’s in today’s newsletter:

Also, check out the weekly Deep Dive - Chinese Database Technologies.

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DATABRICKS

TL;DR: Databricks aims for a $130 billion valuation, emerging as a strong competitor to Palantir by offering unified, cloud-native AI analytics platforms, pressuring Palantir to innovate amid growing demand for scalable data solutions.

  • Databricks is pursuing a funding round that could value the company at $130 billion, challenging Palantir.

  • Databricks offers unified, cloud-native data analytics and AI platforms appealing to businesses focused on big data.

  • The funding reflects investor confidence in Databricks’ rapid growth, innovation, and expanding cloud-based customer base.

  • Databricks’ rise pressures Palantir to innovate amid increasing demand for scalable, AI-driven data solutions.

Why this matters: Databricks' surge toward a $130B valuation signals a major shift in data analytics, challenging Palantir’s dominance and pushing industry innovation. This competition accelerates advancements, benefiting enterprises with more flexible, AI-driven cloud solutions crucial for staying competitive in a data-centric business landscape.

MICROSOFT AZURE

TL;DR: Microsoft launched Azure HorizonDB, a managed PostgreSQL service offering hyperscale, high availability, and Azure integrations, boosting enterprise database performance and competing strongly with Amazon and Google cloud offerings.

  • Microsoft launched Azure HorizonDB, enhancing PostgreSQL with hyperscale performance and high availability for enterprises.

  • HorizonDB integrates improved replication, automated scaling, and Azure tool compatibility for seamless management.

  • This move strengthens Microsoft’s position against rivals like Amazon RDS and Google Cloud SQL in managed PostgreSQL services.

  • Azure HorizonDB simplifies complex database management, accelerating application development and supporting digital transformation efforts.

Why this matters: Azure HorizonDB enhances PostgreSQL’s scalability and reliability, reducing operational complexity for enterprises. By blending open-source flexibility with Azure’s ecosystem, Microsoft strengthens its cloud competitiveness, accelerating digital transformation and fostering broader adoption of managed PostgreSQL solutions amid growing data-driven application demands.

VECTOR DATABASE

TL;DR: Zilliz and Pliops collaborate to reduce billion-scale vector search costs by integrating hardware acceleration with Milvus, enabling affordable, high-speed AI applications and democratizing advanced data analysis technologies.

  • Zilliz and Pliops collaborate to enable billion-scale vector search at significantly reduced storage-level costs.

  • Integration of Pliops' data processing units with Zilliz’s Milvus platform achieves high throughput and low latency.

  • This partnership lowers cost per query, making complex vector searches scalable and affordable for enterprises.

  • The collaboration democratizes advanced AI applications, boosting innovations in recommendations, vision, and language tech.

Why this matters: By reducing costs and improving efficiency in billion-scale vector searches, Zilliz and Pliops make advanced AI more accessible to diverse industries. This fosters innovation in personalized recommendations and language technologies, driving scalable, affordable solutions critical for handling vast, complex datasets in AI development.

DATA ADMINISTRATION

TL;DR: Cloudflare CEO confirmed the global internet outage stemmed from a faulty database update, not a DDoS attack, highlighting internal vulnerabilities and emphasizing transparent crisis management to restore trust.

  • Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince clarified the recent global internet outage was not caused by a DDoS attack.

  • The outage resulted from a faulty ClickHouse database update within Cloudflare's systems causing cascading service disruptions.

  • The incident highlights vulnerabilities from internal technical errors, not just external cyber threats, in internet infrastructure.

  • Cloudflare’s transparent crisis management aims to restore confidence and promote stronger internet resilience strategies.

Why this matters: This incident reveals that internal errors can disrupt global internet access as much as cyberattacks, spotlighting the fragility of critical infrastructure. Cloudflare’s transparency and response set a standard for crisis communication, emphasizing the urgent need for rigorous oversight and resilience in cloud and network services.

EVERYTHING ELSE IN CLOUD DATABASES

DEEP DIVE

Chinese Database Technologies

In the back of my mind, I have had this thought about what Chinese databases offering exists. What precipitated this I suppose, is that I have to do ongoing research into databases, and I need more enhanced listings than those on DB Engines and Database of Databases.

On those sites I noticed that a lot of them are just GitHub repos. Also, with the advent of LLMs from the likes of Kimi, Deepseek, and Qwen, I began to think are there any Chinese database companies that I/we should be aware of.

In this newsletter, it is not about politics, geopolitics, pure finance and economics. The main goal is to bring you the most comprehensive database new. However, politics, geopolitics, pure finance and economics do indeed impact a lot of what we have to work with as modern database practitioners.

Just putting the aforementioned disclaimer out there as the aforementioned subjects can be sensitive at times. We are are just here to talk about technology. Nothing else.

With that being said, check out my listing of Chinese database companies and platforms:

Cloud Giants (Hyperscalers)

  • Alibaba Cloud (PolarDB & AnalyticDB)

    A leading cloud-native ecosystem featuring PolarDB (separated compute/storage similar to AWS Aurora) and AnalyticDB for real-time OLAP. It holds the largest market share in China and offers extensive Oracle/MySQL compatibility for high-concurrency scenarios.

  • Tencent Cloud (TDSQL)

    Known for TDSQL, a distributed, financial-grade database famous for handling WeChat Pay’s massive transaction volumes. It emphasizes strong consistency, high availability, and is a popular choice for banking core system replacements.

  • Huawei Cloud (GaussDB)

    Centers on GaussDB (and its open-source core openGauss), an enterprise-grade distributed relational platform often paired with Kunpeng hardware. It is heavily used in government and secure sectors for full-stack localization and AI integration.

  • Baidu (BaikalDB)

    Offers BaikalDB, a distributed HTAP database that integrates tightly with AI and big data ecosystems. It focuses on high-concurrency queries and storage scalability while maintaining MySQL protocol compatibility.

Distributed SQL & NewSQL Innovators

  • PingCAP (TiDB)

    The creator of TiDB, a popular open-source, distributed HTAP database that separates SQL processing from storage (TiKV). It supports the MySQL protocol and is widely adopted globally for its elastic horizontal scaling capabilities.

  • OceanBase (OceanBase DB)

    An Ant Group spin-off known for holding world records in TPC-C benchmarks with its native distributed architecture. It uses a Paxos-based consensus protocol to ensure high availability (RPO=0) for mission-critical financial workloads.

  • SequoiaDB

    A financial-grade, distributed multi-model database (Document, Relational, Object) used heavily in banking data lakes. It provides a standard SQL interface while managing unstructured data and massive content management needs.

  • ZTE (GoldenDB)

    Develops GoldenDB, a distributed transactional database explicitly designed for the rigorous requirements of core banking systems. It focuses on financial-grade consistency and reliability to replace legacy mainframes.

  • Transwarp (Inceptor & Hyperbase)

    Provides distributed database components built for big data analytics and real-time processing, often within Hadoop-adjacent architectures. Their platforms are optimized for complex SQL analysis on massive datasets.

  • Esgyn (EsgynDB)

    Offers a distributed SQL database based on Apache Trafodion, designed for hybrid transactional/analytical processing (HTAP). It targets enterprise big data scenarios requiring strictly consistent transactions across distributed nodes.

Traditional & Compliance

  • Dameng (DM Database)

    The closest domestic equivalent to an Oracle clone, designed to minimize code changes during legacy PL/SQL migrations. It is a top choice for China's "National Team" in government, energy, and emergency systems.

  • Kingbase (KingbaseES)

    Born from academic research and heavily based on PostgreSQL, this platform is hardened with enterprise security layers. It is a staple in the government’s "Information Innovation" (Xinchuang) initiatives to replace foreign software.

  • GBase (General Data)

    Features GBase 8a (MPP analytics) and GBase 8s (based on licensed Informix code) for transactional workloads. It is a standard in the Chinese telecom and banking industries for secure data warehousing.

  • Shenstong (OSCAR/STDB)

    A veteran domestic RDBMS vendor deeply entrenched in government agencies and secure state departments. It focuses on high-security compliance and reliable transaction processing for state infrastructure.

  • HighGo Software

    A domestic relational database vendor based on PostgreSQL that is part of the national "Information Innovation" lineup. It focuses on providing a secure, localized alternative to foreign RDBMS products for government use.

  • Vastbase

    A relational database product family often tied to the "Xinchuang" (IT innovation) stacks. It is designed to meet domestic requirements for security and controllability in critical infrastructure.

  • Youxuan Software (UXDB)

    A local relational database platform included in the domestic "Information Innovation" lineup. It serves government and enterprise clients looking for compliant, localized database solutions.

Specialized Engines (Graph, Vector, Analytics)

Gladstone Benjamin