Anthropic Negotiates $6 Billion Acquisition of Israeli AI Startup Decart

Anthropic, the AI company behind the Claude models, is reportedly in talks to acquire the Israeli startup Decart for approximately $6 billion, according to Bloomberg sources familiar with the matter. Founded less than three years ago by Dr. Dean Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev, both former members of Israel's Unit 8200, Decart specializes in AI infrastructure and real-time dynamic environment simulation. The deal, if completed, would mark one of the largest exits in Israeli high-tech history and a significant acquisition for Anthropic, a leading competitor to OpenAI.

Decart developed DOS, a software layer designed to optimize AI model training and execution, enhancing performance on existing computing infrastructure. This technology could help Anthropic reduce Claude's computing costs and accelerate its AI model operations. The startup also offers products like Lucy, a real-time video creation and editing model, and Oasis, which generates interactive environments used in robotics and physical AI applications.

Decart recently raised $300 million in May at a $4 billion valuation, led by Radical Ventures with participation from Nvidia, Sequoia, Benchmark, Adobe Ventures, and Toyota Ventures, among others. Amazon has joined as a strategic customer. Overall, Decart has raised over $450 million since its inception in late 2023.

The Bloomberg report follows an earlier article by Calcalist suggesting that Elon Musk's SpaceX was interested in acquiring Decart, a claim Musk denied on social media, calling it "fake news." Other potential buyers mentioned include Amazon and Nebius, after previous talks with Nvidia did not materialize. As of now, no deal has been signed, and negotiations may still fall through.