Databricks Takes Second in Meta Kernel Challenge with 2.5x Speedup
Databricks placed second out of over 300,000 submissions in Meta's Muse Spark Open Kernel Challenge, achieving an average 2.5x speedup over SGLang kernels. Its Kernel Factory lets AI agents autonomously hill-climb toward better kernels, with Opus 5.5 proving the strongest model for GPU kernel optimization. The kernels ship straight into production, powering Databricks Unity Gateway and customer AI inference.
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Yuchen Jin (@Yuchenj_UW) · 2026-11-13 18
Databricks just took 2nd place in Meta's Muse Spark Open Kernel Challenge, out of 300K+ submissions!
Our kernels achieved an average 2.5X speedup over SGLang kernels.
We built a Kernel Factory where AI agents autonomously hill-climb their way to better kernels. We found Opus 5.5 to be the strongest model for GPU kernel optimization.
These kernels go straight from our Kernel Factory into production, powering Databricks Unity Gateway and AI inference for our customers.