TL;DR:
- Yahoo is spinning off Vespa, a powerful big data serving engine, into an independent company.
- Jon Bratseth, a key contributor to Vespa, is appointed as CEO.
- Yahoo will continue to invest in Vespa, maintain its largest customer status, and hold an ownership stake.
- Vespa’s journey began in 2005 when Yahoo acquired AlltheWeb.com and retooled its search technology.
- Vespa has evolved to handle diverse data inputs and is integral to Yahoo’s search, recommendations, and advertising.
- Over 10 million downloads of Vespa’s open-source package have been recorded.
- Vespa’s vision of serving data and AI applications at scale sets it apart from competitors.
- The spinout aims to address growing demand and may have implications for Yahoo’s public market return.
Main AI News:
In a strategic move, Yahoo has unveiled its decision to spin off Vespa, the robust big data serving engine, into a standalone entity. The leadership torch is passed to Jon Bratseth, a former VP architect within Yahoo’s big data and AI division and a key contributor to Vespa’s success, who assumes the role of CEO.
Even after the spinout, Yahoo remains deeply committed to Vespa, pledging financial support while maintaining its position as Vespa’s largest client. Yahoo will also secure an ownership stake in Vespa, with a seat on the board of directors.
The Vespa journey commenced in 2005 when Yahoo acquired Overture, a paid search service provider, and AlltheWeb.com, a Norwegian search engine. Collaborating with Yahoo’s e-commerce division, the AllTheWeb team, comprising approximately 30 members, transformed their search technology into a versatile tool for Yahoo’s internal use, capable of handling massive real-time datasets.
Over the subsequent decade, Vespa expanded its capabilities, accommodating diverse data inputs, personalizing content based on user interactions, and incorporating machine learning algorithms. In 2017, Yahoo unleashed Vespa as an open-source solution, aiming to foster an ecosystem both internally and externally.
This move paid substantial dividends. Today, Vespa plays a pivotal role in powering searches and recommending related articles on Yahoo-owned platforms. It also drives targeted advertising on Yahoo’s web properties, including Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News, and the broader advertising network. Notably, Vespa powers around 150 applications within Yahoo, collectively serving a user base of one billion people and processing a staggering 800,000 queries per second.
Beyond Yahoo’s confines, a multitude of brands, including Spotify, OkCupid, and Wix, have embraced Vespa. They leverage either the open-source Vespa release or opt for the cloud-hosted, fully managed version, Vespa Cloud, offered by Yahoo. Impressively, Vespa’s open-source package boasts over 10 million downloads.
While alternatives like Solr and Elasticsearch exist in the open-source domain, Yahoo asserts that Vespa outperforms them on multiple fronts. Jon Bratseth emphasizes Vespa’s unique vision of meeting the complete needs of any data and AI application at scale, a vision that the Vespa team continuously enhances.
So, why is this spinout into a separate entity? Bratseth points to capacity as the driving factor. Increasing numbers of companies are expressing interest in deploying their applications to Yahoo’s cloud service, and Vespa, as an independent entity, can better cater to this demand.
One might wonder if Yahoo’s plans to reenter the public markets influenced this decision. However, neither Bratseth nor Lara Davis, Yahoo’s chief strategy officer, confirm or deny this speculation.
Davis underscores Vespa’s pivotal role in Yahoo’s AI and machine learning capabilities and highlights the immense potential for Yahoo to continue as both an investor and a customer. As part of the transition, Yahoo is migrating crucial proprietary platform technology to Vespa while continuing to support their systems as they become independent.
In a prepared statement, Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone echoes Davis’s sentiments, highlighting Vespa’s indispensable role in Yahoo’s technology stack while emphasizing the new opportunities for other companies to leverage its technology as an independent entity.
Conclusion:
Yahoo’s decision to spin off Vespa into an independent entity reflects its commitment to the big data and AI market. Vespa’s unique capabilities and widespread adoption position it as a strong player in the industry. This move allows Yahoo to better cater to increasing demand and potentially signifies strategic shifts in preparation for a return to the public markets. The big data and AI sector can anticipate increased innovation and competition as Vespa continues to evolve.
