Snowflake Inc. acquires Myst AI, a startup that provides an artificial intelligence development platform for companies in the energy sector.
snowflake announced Acquisition Wednesday. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Energy companies use AI models to predict fluctuations in electricity prices, changes in customer demand, and other trends. San Francisco-based Myst provides a platform that makes it easy to develop AI models that can make business predictions. The startup’s platform also automates related tasks, such as the process of deploying neural networks in production.
AI models generate predictions by analyzing historical data about a phenomenon and estimating how it might change in the future. For example, a neural network built to predict precipitation might analyze past precipitation measurements. AI models used in the energy sector often use similar methods.
Historical data analyzed by AI models to generate predictions often includes time series records, or records that not only contain information about events, but also identify when they occurred. Myst’s platform is optimized for building neural networks that process time series data.
According to the startup, its platform offers more than six prepackaged neural networks. Myst also provides connectors for collecting time series data such as weather measurements. Using that time series data, customers can train neural networks powered by Myst to perform tasks such as predicting changes in energy demand.
The startup’s platform also helps developers test the accuracy of new AI models before deploying them. Myst says software teams using its platform can use new neural networks to extrapolate how past business events have played out. You can then measure the accuracy of the neural network’s estimates by comparing them to historical data about the event.
Myst has raised $8 million from investors since its launch and says its platform is used by multiple companies in the energy sector. According to the startup, a utility has used its platform to reduce some errors in short-term business forecasts by 55%.
AI models are used to generate business predictions not only in the energy sector, but also in other industries. After the acquisition, Snowflake may extend his Myst platform to new use cases in other markets.
Greg Czajkowski, senior vice president of engineering at Snowflake, said: blog post“It is widely used in supply chain management, inventory planning, and finance. Accurate forecasting helps establish measurements to guide management, facilitate planning and target setting, and reduce risk.” ”
Myst is the second AI startup Snowflake acquired last year. The company acquired Streamlit Inc. last March. reportedly The valuation is $800 million. Streamlit provides popular software tools that developers use to build interfaces for her AI and data science applications.
