Anthropic Abandons $6 Billion Deal for Israeli AI Startup Decart

Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has decided not to acquire the Israeli AI startup Decart AI, according to a Bloomberg report citing sources familiar with the matter. Anthropic had explored the acquisition and conducted due diligence on Decart but ultimately withdrew from the deal, the sources said, requesting anonymity due to the private nature of the information. However, the companies may still explore other collaboration opportunities, one source indicated. Representatives for both Anthropic and Decart declined to comment.

Anthropic, the developer of the chatbot Claude, had been in negotiations to purchase Decart for approximately $6 billion. No final agreement was reached, and there was always a possibility the negotiations would not result in a deal. Decart develops software designed to reduce the costs of training and operating AI systems by improving the efficiency of chip performance.

The potential acquisition was intended to bolster Anthropic's existing computing infrastructure to handle increased demand. Anthropic, which rarely makes large acquisitions, is investing heavily in computing power for new product development and customer service in anticipation of its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). Sources close to the IPO preparations suggest the company aims to raise a sum comparable to, or even exceeding, what SpaceX raised in its IPO.

Decart was founded in 2023 by three Israeli engineers: brothers Dean and Orian Leittersdorf, and Moshe Shilo. The startup offers an optimization system aimed at helping AI developers "squeeze every drop of performance out of every chip," according to its website. Their solution is designed for both training AI models and running them post-training, a process known as inference.