The OpenSearch Software Foundation, a vendor-neutral hub for the OpenSearch project, marked its first anniversary under the Linux Foundation at the Open Source Summit Europe in August 2025. Since its inception in September 2024, the Foundation has driven significant advancements in AI-powered search, observability, and analytics, reinforcing OpenSearch’s role as a cornerstone for data-driven applications.
OpenSearch Software Foundation celebrates its first year, achieving over 1 billion downloads, up 78% year-over-year.
Community contributions grew with over 400 organizations and 8,800 code submissions.
Enhanced AI capabilities in OpenSearch 3.0–3.2 include vector engine and agentic search features.
Hybrid search performance improved, with 11x faster queries in OpenSearch 3.2 vs. 1.3.
Key industry players like ByteDance, Intel, SAP, and Uber bolstered technical advancements.
Foundation’s focus on open-source AI and analytics drives enterprise-grade solutions.
Since its launch in September 2024, the OpenSearch Software Foundation has fostered global collaboration, with over 400 active contributing organizations and 8,800 contributions. The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, and India led in contributions, reflecting widespread adoption. The Foundation expanded its membership to 16 organizations, including ByteDance, DataStax, DTEX, and Seacom Srl, and established a 15-member technical steering committee with representatives from Aryn, AWS, IBM, Salesforce, SAP, and Uber. "OpenSearch's advancement in its first year under the Linux Foundation shows the strength of open collaboration in meeting modern data challenges," said Mike Dolan, senior vice president of legal and strategic programs of the Linux Foundation.
The OpenSearch project has made significant strides in AI-driven capabilities with releases 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2. The enhanced vector engine supports agentic AI through the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and GPU acceleration, enabling faster development and deployment. New FP16, Byte, and Binary Vector Types improve resource efficiency for scalable applications. Experimental features like Agentic Search and Agentic Memory in version 3.2 allow natural language engagement and context recall, boosting AI application development. "We are excited by the advancements in AI use cases with each new version of OpenSearch, bringing its powerful advancements to our customers and empowering them to deliver agentic AI," said Ben Slater, vice president and general manager, NetApp Instaclustr.
OpenSearch 3.2 delivers remarkable performance improvements, with query speeds 11x faster than version 1.3, driven by hybrid search algorithms that offer up to 65% faster query times and 3.5x higher throughput. The introduction of gRPC support enhances data transport efficiency, while approximation framework enhancements improve responsiveness for paginated search results and real-time dashboards. Experimental streaming aggregation functionality optimizes resource distribution. Additionally, cross-cluster search for traces and Piped Processing Language (PPL) upgrades streamline complex log analytics, making OpenSearch a robust tool for enterprise observability.
Major industry players have significantly contributed to OpenSearch’s technical advancements. ByteDance improved the segment replication protocol and k-NN features, while IBM DataStax introduced the JVector engine for vector search. Intel’s SIMD contributions enhanced k-NN performance, and SAP ensured FIPS compliance for secure workloads. Uber’s pull-based ingestion simplified integration, reinforcing OpenSearch’s enterprise utility. "OpenSearch is pivotal to our long term sustainable search platform strategy, and we are excited to continue to work with this amazing community," said Yupeng Fu, principal software engineer, Uber.
The upgrade to Lucene 10 in OpenSearch 3.2 improves performance and maintainability, supporting a growing open-source developer base. This modernization ensures the platform remains adaptable to future innovations. "As the Foundation moves into its second year, we're focused on building on this momentum to make OpenSearch the most capable open source platform for search, analytics, and observability in the era of AI," said Carl Meadows, governing board chair at the OpenSearch Software Foundation and director of product management at Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The Foundation’s growth reflects the increasing demand for open-source AI and search technologies. "Within our first year with the Linux Foundation's OpenSearch project, DTEX has seen firsthand how open collaboration fuels innovation," said Jessica Ray, chief marketing officer, DTEX. SAP emphasized OpenSearch’s role in its Business Technology Platform, noting, "SAP customers expect a unified, business-centric and open SAP Business Technology Platform, and this extends to its observability capabilities," said Verena Lommatzsch, head of SAP BTP Technical Services, SAP. These endorsements highlight OpenSearch’s enterprise-grade reliability.
The OpenSearch Software Foundation’s first year has solidified its position as a leader in open-source search and analytics. With a thriving community, cutting-edge AI advancements, and strong industry support, OpenSearch is poised to drive innovation in the evolving tech landscape. For more details, visit foundation.opensearch.org.
About the OpenSearch Software Foundation
The OpenSearch Software Foundation is a vendor-neutral community for search, analytics, observability, and vector database software. Hosted by the Linux Foundation and supported by premier members such as AWS, SAP and Uber, the OpenSearch Software Foundation works with community maintainers, developers, and member organizations to drive the continued growth of the OpenSearch project. With more than 900 million software downloads since its inception and participation from thousands of contributors, the OpenSearch project and its community are transforming how information is managed and discovered.
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