Amazon in reported talks to buy Israeli-founded Decart for $7bn
The AI company, which was previously linked to an Anthropic takeover, develops technology to make AI faster and cheaper, alongside tools that transform live video
Amazon is reportedly in talks to buy Israeli-founded artificial intelligence company Decart in a deal worth around $7 billion, putting the fast-growing startup at the centre of another potential multibillion-dollar technology takeover.
Founded in 2023, Decart’s co-founders include Israeli entrepreneurs Dean Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev, former colleagues in Israel’s Unit 8200 intelligence division. The company develops technology designed to improve the speed and efficiency of AI systems.
The potential deal was reported by the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the company, though no agreement has been announced.
Earlier this year, Decart raised $300 million at a $4 billion valuation in a round led by Radical Ventures. Investors included Nvidia, Adobe Ventures, Toyota Ventures and eBay Ventures, alongside existing backers Sequoia Capital, Benchmark and Zeev Ventures. Decart says its total funding exceeds $450 million.
At the core of its business is the Decart Optimisation Stack, known as DOS: software designed to help AI developers get more performance from their computing hardware. It works across Nvidia processors, Amazon’s Trainium chips and Google’s TPUs, aiming to make training and running AI models faster and less expensive.
Decart also develops Lucy, which can transform video as it plays, and Oasis, which generates interactive simulated environments. Applications range from live advertising and virtual clothing try-ons to simulations for robotics and autonomous vehicles, according to the company.
Amazon already has a relationship with the startup through its cloud computing business, Amazon Web Services. AWS identifies Decart as a Trainium customer and says its technology has achieved four times faster processing for real-time generative video at half the cost of comparable GPU systems. Those are company-reported performance figures.
The potential takeover follows an earlier approach by Anthropic, the developer of the Claude AI assistant. Jewish News covered those discussions in August, when a possible $6 billion acquisition was being explored.
Amazon’s reported interest highlights the value being placed on the technology underpinning AI, as well as the applications themselves. For the Israeli-founded company, a completed deal at the reported price would mark a substantial increase on its May valuation.