Databricks open-sources Unity Catalog, challenging Snowflake on interoperability for data workloads

June 12, 2024: Databricks Open-Sources Unity Catalog - At its annual Data and AI Summit, Databricks announced the open-sourcing of Unity Catalog under an Apache 2.0 license, enhancing data governance flexibility and challenging competitor Snowflakes interoperability. Unity Catalog offers integrated governance solutions for data and AI assets across major cloud platforms, engines, and formats, including Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, and Hudi, unlike Snowflakes Iceberg-limited Polaris Catalog. The move promises to increase adoption by preventing vendor lock-in and supporting a broad spectrum of data tools and AI applications for over 10,000 organizations using the Databricks platform.