Direct answer:
Amazon is in talks to buy the AI startup Decart for around $7 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. That would be one of the biggest AI deals of the year — nearly double Decart’s $4 billion valuation from May. The talks aren’t final, and there’s a twist: Anthropic explored buying Decart in August and walked away after due diligence.
What happened
The WSJ reported on Sunday 11 October, citing people familiar with the matter, that Amazon is discussing the acquisition and a deal could be signed soon — unless talks collapse or another bidder shows up. Amazon declined to comment outside business hours; Decart didn’t respond.
Who is Decart? Founded in San Francisco in 2023 by three Israeli engineers, the company builds what the industry calls world models — AI that learns the rules of the physical world to generate 3D environments, used to train and test robots and self-driving systems in simulation. Two products stand out:
- Lucy — edits live video in real time (backed by Nvidia).
- Oasis — builds simulation environments for robotics and autonomous-driving training.
The sleeper asset may be Decart’s chip software. Most AI models are built for specific chips and need performance tuning to run elsewhere; Decart’s software is designed to remove that burden, letting models run across a range of chips.
The money trail: Decart was valued at nearly $4 billion in May (PitchBook), raised $300 million that month in a round led by Radical Ventures with Nvidia joining, and has raised over $400 million total from investors including Sequoia and Benchmark. Bloomberg reported last month that Anthropic had explored a potential $6 billion deal in August but decided against it after due diligence.
What it means for UK small businesses
You won’t be buying Decart’s software directly — but this deal is about AI running costs, which eventually reach everyone. If Amazon absorbs technology that lets AI models run on any chip, AWS’s AI services get cheaper to operate, and those savings tend to flow downstream into the APIs and tools smaller firms actually use.
The bigger pattern: the AI gold rush is entering its consolidation phase. Anthropic walking away, then Amazon swooping in, is how these markets mature — a handful of giants absorbing the most promising startups. For UK businesses choosing AI tools, that argues for picking platforms with staying power rather than betting on niche startups that may get acquired or shut down. Our AI statistics roundup for UK small businesses tracks how fast adoption is moving.
And the robotics angle is worth a glance even if you run a shop or agency today: simulation-trained robots and autonomous systems are the technology that will eventually reshape logistics, warehouses and last-mile delivery — the same forces behind agentic commerce.
Honest limits / what to watch
- It’s talks, not a deal. “Could be signed soon” is doing heavy lifting. Talks collapse, prices move, other bidders appear.
- Anthropic walked away. The sharpest technical minds in the industry looked under the bonnet and said no at ~$6 billion. That doesn’t kill the deal — acquirers buy for strategic reasons, not just tech — but it’s a genuine yellow flag.
- $7 billion is a premium. Nearly double the May valuation in five months is a steep price, even in this market. Amazon must see real strategic value in the chip-portability software.
- No public comment. Neither Amazon nor Decart has confirmed anything. Treat every figure as reported, not official.
Sources: Reuters via Business Standard, Channel News Asia, Seoul Economic Daily.
FAQs
Is Amazon buying Decart?
Not yet. The Wall Street Journal reported on 11 October 2026 that Amazon is in talks to acquire Decart for around $7 billion, citing people familiar with the matter. Talks could still collapse or another bidder could emerge, and neither company has commented publicly.
What does Decart do?
Decart is a 2023-founded AI startup building “world models” — AI systems that simulate 3D environments to train and test robots and self-driving cars. Its Lucy model edits live video in real time, its Oasis model builds simulation environments, and its software lets AI models run on a range of different chips.
Why would Amazon pay $7 billion for Decart?
Decart’s chip-portability software could cut Amazon’s dependence on any single chip supplier for running AI models — a major cost lever for AWS. Its world models also feed directly into robotics and automation, areas where Amazon has enormous interests.
Didn’t Anthropic try to buy Decart first?
Yes. Bloomberg reported that Anthropic explored a roughly $6 billion deal for Decart in August 2026 but walked away last month after due diligence. That history is worth keeping in mind — something in the books or the tech gave the industry’s sharpest evaluators pause.
What would this mean for AI costs?
If Decart’s chip-agnostic software scales under Amazon, running AI models could get cheaper over time as companies worry less about which hardware they’re locked into. That would eventually lower AI costs for businesses of every size.
