Amazon is in discussions to acquire artificial intelligence startup Decart for roughly $7 billion, a deal that would become the company's largest acquisition since the $11 billion Globalstar agreement announced earlier this year and surpass the $6.5 billion paid for MGM Studios in 2022. The Wall Street Journal reported the talks on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter, who said an agreement could materialize soon unless negotiations collapse or a competing bidder emerges. Amazon has not responded to a request for comment.
The chip portability play
Decart, founded in 2023, builds software that lets developers move workloads across different AI chips, a capability that has grown more valuable as companies scramble for compute and look to avoid lock-in to any single vendor. The startup is also developing world models called Lucy and Oasis that generate and simulate three-dimensional environments. Amazon Web Services gave Decart early access to its custom Trainium3 chip last year after meeting the founders, a signal that the relationship began as a silicon partnership before evolving into an acquisition conversation.
The Anthropic precedent
The reported price tag comes into focus against last month's news that Anthropic walked away from a $6 billion deal for the same company. Israeli outlet Calcalist had previously reported Decart was in advanced talks with a major technology buyer. That sequence suggests either Decart's valuation has risen quickly or Amazon is willing to pay a premium that Anthropic was not. The source material does not specify whether the consideration would be cash, stock, or a mix, nor does it mention any break fee or regulatory condition.
What to watch next
The Journal's sources caution that the talks could still fall apart or attract another suitor. For Amazon, the deal would deepen a custom-silicon strategy built around Trainium3, the chip designed to challenge Nvidia's dominance in AI training and inference. Whether Decart's portability layer and world-model research justify a $7 billion outlay, and whether the integration risk is priced in, will only become clear if and when terms are disclosed.