Published: October 12, 2026
Amazon is reportedly in talks to acquire artificial intelligence startup Decart AI in a deal valued at roughly $7 billion, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. If the negotiations do not fall apart, an agreement could be reached soon. The deal would rank among Amazon’s largest acquisitions in the AI infrastructure space and signals the company’s determination to challenge Nvidia’s dominance in the computing chip market.
Key Takeaways
- Reported $7 billion talks: Amazon is negotiating to acquire AI startup Decart, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- No finalized agreement: Discussions could lead to a deal soon, but negotiations may still collapse.
- Support for Amazon’s AI chips: Decart’s technology could help more AI workloads run on AWS Trainium chips.
- Greater hardware flexibility: Its software aims to make switching between different AI chips easier, potentially reducing reliance on Nvidia GPUs.
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Beyond chip software: Decart also develops AI world models, including Lucy and Oasis.
Who Is Decart?
Decart is headquartered in San Francisco and was founded in 2023 by three Israeli engineers, including the Leitersdorf brothers and Moshe Shalev. In just three years, the company has raised more than $400 million from top venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital, Benchmark, and Radical Ventures. During its funding round in May, the company was valued at nearly $4 billion. Nvidia also joined as a new investor during that same round a detail that underscores how strategically important Decart’s technology has become.
Why Decart Matters
Decart’s core technology enables AI models to run flexibly across different types of chips. Currently, most AI models are developed and optimized for specific chips, particularly Nvidia GPUs, and migrating them to other hardware platforms requires extensive tuning work. Decart’s software aims to eliminate this obstacle, allowing developers to switch freely between different chips depending on supply and cost conditions. Given the surge in AI computing demand and the scarcity and high cost of Nvidia GPUs, this capability is widely regarded in the industry as a key competitive advantage.
Beyond chip adaptation software, Decart has also developed “world models” called Lucy and Oasis. Lucy supports real-time video editing, while Oasis can generate and simulate three-dimensional virtual environments for training and testing robots and autonomous driving systems.
Not the First Suitor
Notably, this is not the first time Decart has attracted the attention of a tech giant. In August, AI company Anthropic explored acquiring Decart for approximately $6 billion and completed due diligence, but ultimately decided to walk away in September. That Anthropic passed on the deal and Amazon is now reportedly willing to pay more suggests Amazon sees strategic value that goes beyond Decart’s standalone business.
The Bigger Picture: Amazon’s Chip Ambitions
Amazon’s interest in Decart is closely tied to its custom chip strategy. Through its AWS cloud service, Amazon has developed the Trainium series of AI chips, with the latest generation, Trainium3, designed to compete with Nvidia GPUs. According to reports, AWS executives were impressed after meeting with Decart’s founding team in 2025 and subsequently granted the company early access to Trainium3.
Acquiring Decart would help Amazon expand the ecosystem appeal of its custom chips, enabling more AI workloads to run smoothly on Trainium. In practical terms, this could reduce AWS customers’ dependence on Nvidia hardware a priority for Amazon as GPU costs and supply constraints continue to shape the AI economy.
Deal Size in Context
If the deal is completed, it would be one of Amazon’s largest acquisitions in recent years, second only to its $6.5 billion purchase of MGM Studios in 2022 and its roughly $11 billion acquisition of satellite communications company Globalstar announced this year.
What to Watch
The reported title aligns with the core facts gathered: Amazon is indeed in negotiations to acquire AI startup Decart for approximately $7 billion. If the deal goes through, it would mark a key step in Amazon’s AI chip ecosystem strategy and reflect the increasingly intense competition among tech giants over computing autonomy. Investors and industry watchers should watch for official confirmation from Amazon or Decart, as negotiations could still fall apart.
