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Update: Calcalist Puts Amazon's Proposed Decart Deal at About $5.5 Billion, Below the WSJ's Reported $7 Billion

Calcalist reported on Oct. 13 that Amazon's proposed acquisition of Decart would value the startup at about $5.5 billion, with a deal possibly signed by the end of October. The Wall Street Journal had reported a deal valued at around $7 billion; the Oct. 12 report follows.

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Engraved warehouse loading dock where a robot arm reaches toward a glowing film reel projecting a simulated street scene, a price tag reading "~$7B" hanging from the reel, amber and slate intaglio.

Updated October 13, 2026: Calcalist reports a lower valuation for the proposed deal. The new section directly below covers it; the October 12 report follows, unchanged except that its headings now sit under a dated section.

October 13: Calcalist reports about $5.5 billion#

Israeli business outlet Calcalist reported on Tuesday, October 13 that the proposed transaction would value Decart at $5.5 billion, citing information it obtained. That is below the roughly $7 billion the Wall Street Journal reported, as covered below. Calcalist says a deal could be signed by the end of October. Nothing has been announced by either company.

Calcalist also reports that after Anthropic walked away, Decart tried to reopen talks with Nvidia, which declined, before shareholders turned to Amazon. It says Decart's most recent round valued it at $4 billion and that it employs fewer than 100 people, and describes Amazon's interest as centred on Decart's software for making AI models run more efficiently across chips, including Amazon's Trainium.

Captables carried the same figures, citing Calcalist; it is not a separate source.

October 12: original report#

Decart has a second suitor, and a higher price tag. Amazon is in talks to acquire the AI startup in a deal valued at around $7 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, October 11, citing people familiar with the matter, according to Reuters. Two months ago the bidder was Anthropic, at about $6 billion. Nothing is signed: the Journal said a deal could happen soon if talks do not fall apart or another suitor emerges.

We did not read the Journal's article; the details below come from Reuters' summary and the opening of Bloomberg's write-up, both of which credit the Journal.

What has been reported#

  • The price: around $7 billion, per the Journal. Reuters adds that the Journal put Decart's valuation at nearly $4 billion in May, citing PitchBook data. Decart raised $300 million that month in a round led by Radical Ventures, with Nvidia joining as a new investor, Reuters reports.
  • What Decart makes: its Nvidia-backed Lucy model can edit live video in real time, according to Decart's website, and its Oasis model generates simulated environments to train and test robotics and autonomous-driving systems, Reuters reports.
  • Who founded it: brothers Dean and Orian Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev, three Israeli engineers, in 2023, per Bloomberg.
  • Responses: Amazon declined to comment outside regular business hours, and Decart did not respond, according to Reuters.

Neither Reuters' summary nor the part of Bloomberg's story we could read says how Amazon would use Decart's technology.

The earlier suitor#

In August we reported that Anthropic was in talks to acquire Decart for about $6 billion, according to Bloomberg, in what would have been Anthropic's largest known deal. Those talks ended without a deal: last month Anthropic decided not to pursue an acquisition after conducting due diligence, Bloomberg News reported, according to Reuters.

Limits#

  • The Wall Street Journal's article is paywalled and was not opened. Its contents come from Reuters (read in full via StreetInsider) and Bloomberg Law (opening paragraphs only), which both relay it; they are not independent confirmation.
  • The ~$7 billion figure, the timing and the state of talks all come from unnamed people via the Journal. Neither Amazon nor Decart has confirmed talks.
  • Anthropic's decision not to proceed is Bloomberg's reporting as relayed by Reuters and Bloomberg Law; Anthropic has not commented on it in anything we read.

Sources#

Prior Coverage

Earlier Times of AI reporting on this thread.

Related Coverage

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