AI GlossaryㅂTechnical words in the news
Vector Database
A storehouse that keeps embedding coordinates and finds the ones that are "close in meaning" — the bookshelf behind RAG.
In plain words
A vector database stores huge numbers of embeddings (meaning-coordinates) and quickly finds the ones that are "closest in meaning" to a given input. If a regular database is a filing cabinet built for finding exact matches, a vector database is a bookshelf where similar things are already grouped together.
It works behind the scenes in RAG: internal documents are converted into embeddings and stored here, and when a question comes in, the relevant passages are pulled out and handed to the AI. Specialized startups drew a lot of attention early in the AI boom, and now the trend is for established databases to build vector search in as a built-in feature.
See also
Stories using this term
- DynamoDB Adds Native Vector Search Support, Scales to Trillions of VectorsAI · 2026.08.10
- Microsoft Unveils Video-Capable Vision-Language Model Mage-VLAI · 2026.08.10
- World Labs' Atlas Generates and Reconstructs 3D Worlds From a Few PhotosAI · 2026.09.03
- Backflip AI Automates Conversion of 3D Scans Into CAD ModelsAI · 2026.08.09
- NVIDIA to acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billionBusiness · 2026.09.04
- ASCII City Built Without a Game Engine Fits in a Single HTML FileCreative · 2026.09.02
