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

Amazon is reportedly in discussions to acquire AI startup Decart for roughly $7 billion, a move that could bolster the company's presence in the burgeoning AI infrastructure sector, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The potential acquisition unfolds just weeks after AI company Anthropic reportedly abandoned a pursuit of a takeover of Decart following due diligence on a possible $6 billion deal.

Decart, a San Francisco-based firm, has engineered software that enables developers to switch more seamlessly between various AI chips, an increasingly crucial capability as demand for computing power escalates amid the AI surge. Amazon is targeting key AI infrastructure technology, having developed its own custom AI chip, Trainium3, to compete with Nvidia's dominance in the market for AI graphics processors.

Amazon Web Services reportedly provided Decart early access to Trainium in 2025 after meeting the company and being impressed by its founders. Decart's software could aid clients in adopting Trainium alongside other hardware. If the deal materializes, it would surpass Amazon's $6.5 billion acquisition of the MGM studio in 2022 and fall short of the estimated $11 billion deal for Globalstar that Amazon announced earlier this year.

Calcalist, an Israeli outlet, reported earlier this month that Decart was in advanced talks to be bought by a major technology company. Decart's software simplifies the process for developers to switch between different AI chips, a capability gaining importance as companies vie for computing power. The San Francisco-based company, founded in 2023 by Israeli engineers Dean and Orian Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev, is also developing AI models named Lucy and Oasis, capable of generating and simulating real-world 3-D environments.

Decart has attracted over $400 million from investors such as Sequoia Capital, Benchmark, and Radical Ventures, and was valued at nearly $4 billion in May. The $7 billion price tag represents a significant increase in a short period. Anthropic ended its pursuit of Decart after conducting due diligence on a potential deal, though it is still considering alternative forms of collaboration.

The $6 billion figure for Anthropic's talks was reportedly confirmed by Bloomberg, though it may have overstated the offer's formality. It is unclear why Anthropic decided against the acquisition.