Amazon in talks to buy AI startup Decart for $7 billion after Anthropic exits

Amazon is reportedly in talks to acquire artificial intelligence startup Decart in a deal valued around $7 billion, a move that would strengthen the tech giant's position in the rapidly expanding AI infrastructure market, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The proposed acquisition comes just weeks after AI firm Anthropic reportedly decided against pursuing a takeover of Decart following due diligence on a potential $6 billion deal. For those unaware, Decart is a San Francisco-based company which has developed software which enable the developers to switch more easily between different AI chips, a capability that has become increasingly important as demand for computing power surges amid the AI boom. Amazon eyes key AI infrastructure technology Amazon has developed its own custom AI chip, Trainium3, to compete with Nvidia, which dominates the market for AI graphics processors. The Journal has reported that Amazon Web Services gave Decart early access to the chip in 2025 after meeting the company and being impressed by its founders. Decart's software could help customers adopt Trainium alongside other hardware. If completed, the deal would be larger than Amazon's $6.5 billion purchase of the MGM studio in 2022. It would still be smaller than the roughly $11 billion deal for Starlink rival Globalstar that Amazon announced earlier this year. The Israeli outlet Calcalist reported earlier this month that Decart was in advanced talks to be sold to a major technology company. What Decart does Decart's software makes it easier for developers to switch between different AI chips, a capability that is becoming more important as companies race to secure computing power. The company, founded in 2023 by Israeli engineers Dean and Orian Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev, is based in San Francisco. It is also developing "world models" called Lucy and Oasis, which can generate and simulate real-world 3-D environments. According to PitchBook, Decart has raised more than $400 million from investors including Sequoia Capital, Benchmark and Radical Ventures. It was valued at nearly $4 billion in May, so a $7 billion price would be a sharp jump in a few months. Anthropic stepped back after due diligence The deal follows an earlier near-miss. Bloomberg reported in September that Anthropic had decided against acquiring Decart after exploring a deal and performing due diligence, and that the companies might still look for other ways to collaborate. Anthropic had been in talks to buy Decart for about $6 billion, though nothing had been finalized. It would have been Anthropic's largest acquisition to date. Reports differ on how firm the $6 billion figure was. Bloomberg described talks at about that level, not a signed or formal offer, so "offered $6 billion" may overstate it. One outlet said Decart's team would have joined Anthropic's inference and performance organization, but I haven't seen the reasons for Anthropic's decision confirmed by either company.