Want smarter insights in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get only what matters to enterprise AI, data, and security leaders. Subscribe Now
Document databases are an increasingly important type of technology in the gen AI era.
A document database is a type of NoSQL database that doesn’t rely on rows and columns like a traditional relational database, instead it uses the JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format. There are multiple vendors that develop document databases including MongoDB, which now has a proprietary closed source technology. In an effort to open up the market, Microsoft began developing its own document database known as DocumentDB and made it open source in January of this year. This week, DocumentDB is moving to the Linux Foundation where it has also gained the backing of Microsoft’s cloud rivals AWS and Google.
The move creates the first vendor-neutral open source alternative to MongoDB that has the potential to save enterprises money, while also eliminating database vendor lock-in. Document databases are important for AI apps for tasks such as chats, context and memory.
“AI apps are all about semi-structured data and document databases are purpose built for it,” Kirill Gavrylyuk, vice president at Microsoft and DocumentDB’s primary architect, told VentureBeat “But there is no open source standard engine for document databases, like what PostgreSQL is for relational databases.”
AI Scaling Hits Its Limits Power caps, rising token costs, and inference delays are reshaping enterprise AI. Join our exclusive salon to discover how top teams are: Turning energy into a strategic advantage
Architecting efficient inference for real throughput gains
Unlocking competitive ROI with sustainable AI systems Secure your spot to stay ahead: https://bit.ly/4mwGngO
Delivering the promise of open source document database at the Linux Foundation
Microsoft initially launched the open-source DocumentDB project in January of 2025.
... continue reading