AWS buys DuckLabs, the people behind the popular in-process OLAP database
Cloud giant expresses love for DuckDB by buying its main support and development company
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has acquired DuckLabs, the company behind the popular open-source DuckDB in-process OLAP database. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. DuckLabs, founded by authors of the in-process OLAP database, will now be part of AWS.
DuckDB, written in C++, is embedded within a host process and requires no DBMS server software to be installed, updated, or maintained. This allows it to run queries directly on data in Python software library Pandas without importing or copying data. The database achieved its 1.0 release in 2024 and has expanded into data lakes with DuckLake, using DuckDB as metadata storage to address the "small changes" problem experienced by data lakes.
AWS has been a fan of DuckDB for some time, with AWS VP and Distinguished Engineer Andy Warfield expressing excitement about the DuckLake announcement. The AWS and DuckLabs teams have already collaborated on S3 Tables, announced by AWS in December 2024, to ensure first-class support for S3 Tables in DuckDB.
The open-source nature of DuckDB will remain unchanged under the merger. Most contributions and strategic direction have come from DuckLabs, but following the acquisition, the co-founder and CEO sees a greater role for the independent DuckDB Foundation in avoiding potential conflicts of interest with other technology giants. The Foundation, led by DuckLabs co-founder and CEO Hannes Mühleisen and CTO Mark Raasveldt, is considering adding a Technical Advisory Board to create a communication channel for those betting on DuckDB, while staying independent.
The AWS team will continue to be based in Amsterdam.
Written by urgent.news from The Register Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
