Amazon in Talks to Acquire Israeli AI Firm Descartes for $7 Billion
Translated & summarized from Globes by baba
Amazon is in talks to acquire Israeli AI company Descartes for $7 billion, a deal that gained urgency after AMD's acquisition of World Labs. Previously, Descartes' founders had opted for a lower offer from Anthropic, which collapsed due to relocation demands. Descartes' technology enhances GPU performance and has a strong existing relationship with Amazon, particularly through Amazon's Annapurna Labs in Israel. The acquisition could intensify competition with Nvidia and AMD in the AI chip market.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Amazon is negotiating to acquire Israeli AI firm Descartes for $7 billion.
- The deal gained momentum after AMD's $8.2 billion acquisition of World Labs.
- Descartes previously rejected a $6 billion stock offer from Anthropic due to relocation demands.
- Descartes' technology enhances GPU performance and has a close partnership with Amazon.
- The acquisition could boost Amazon's cloud sales and challenge Nvidia and AMD.
- Descartes has raised over $450 million from prominent venture capital firms.
Amazon is reportedly in advanced negotiations to acquire Descartes, an Israeli AI company, for $7 billion. This potential deal comes after Descartes' founders, Dean and Oryan Leiteresdorf and Moshe Shilo, previously considered offers from Nvidia and Anthropic. An earlier agreement with Anthropic, valued at $6 billion in stock based on its last private funding round, fell through in August. A key reason for the collapse of the Anthropic deal was Anthropic's demand that Descartes relocate from Tel Aviv to San Francisco, a move many found difficult to fulfill and which seemed aimed at making Descartes a fully American company.
Descartes, which has developed technology to enhance GPU performance and increase computational efficiency, has had a close relationship with Amazon since 2025. Amazon's AI chips, such as Trainium3, have been tested by Descartes, and Dean Leiteresdorf has been a prominent guest at Amazon's marketing events. The synergy between the companies lies in Descartes' ability to encourage clients to switch from Nvidia's GPUs to Amazon's, promising smoother transitions, improved performance, and lower costs.
The negotiations with Amazon intensified following AMD's $8.2 billion acquisition of World Labs. Both World Labs and Descartes have developed graphical models for simulating the real world, crucial for AI in robotics and physical AI applications, with potential uses in defense tech and space exploration. The geographical proximity between Amazon and Descartes in Israel, with Amazon's chip operations through Annapurna Labs having development centers in Haifa and Tel Aviv near Descartes' offices, further strengthens their potential partnership.
Annapurna Labs, led by Billy Harbuya and Nafe Bashara, aims to bolster its capabilities with Descartes' technology, intensifying competition with Nvidia and AMD, and potentially boosting Amazon's cloud sales through AI chips. Descartes has raised over $450 million from investors including Zeev Ventures, Benchmark, Sequoia, Radical Ventures, and Andreessen Horowitz.
Mentioned
The same event, reported separately by each outlet. Open a few to compare what different newsrooms emphasize — and what they leave out.
Centre 3Right 2Arab 1Other 2
Not the same event — other stories that share this one’s people, places, or theme: background, reactions, and follow-ups.
