Databricks Co-Founder Matei Zaharia Wins ACM Prize and Declares AGI Is Already Here

Databricks co-founder Matei Zaharia wins ACM Prize and declares AGI is already here

In short: Matei Zaharia, the Berkeley computer science professor and Databricks co-founder who created Apache Spark, has won the 2026 ACM Prize in Computing for his foundational contributions to distributed data systems and AI infrastructure. The $250,000 prize, funded by an Infosys endowment, is one of computer science’s most prestigious mid-career honours. Zaharia is donating the […] This story continues at The Next Web

Matei Zaharia Receives ACM Prize In Computing For Work On Apache Spark

Matei Zaharia, co-founder and CTO of Databricks, has been named the 2026 recipient of the ACM Prize in Computing, recognizing his contributions to large-scale data processing through the development of Apache Spark. Zaharia said he nearly missed the notification email and described the recognition as unexpected. Origins Of Spark And Early Impact Zaharia created Spark in 2009 during his PhD at University of California, Berkeley, where he worked u…