In a significant step toward democratizing artificial intelligence, Snowflake has launched Arctic, an open-source Large Language Model (LLM) designed specifically for enterprise-scale workloads. Built to be efficient and lightweight, Arctic is optimized for performance within Snowflake’s Data Cloud, allowing organizations to build and deploy AI solutions without heavy infrastructure investments.

Unlike many LLMs that require extensive GPU clusters, Arctic offers cost-effective training and inference while supporting use cases like document classification, chatbots, text summarization, and custom enterprise apps. Developers can access the model via Hugging Face, with Snowflake providing pre-built workflows for deployment.

Snowflake’s CEO Frank Slootman said, “Arctic brings generative AI closer to where business data lives — within governed, secure, and compliant data environments.”

This move signals Snowflake’s commitment to merging traditional analytics with cutting-edge AI while maintaining control, compliance, and flexibility for enterprises.