Anthropic is reportedly negotiating to acquire Decart for $6 billion, marking its largest transaction to date.

      Anthropic is reportedly in discussions to purchase Decart, an Israeli AI startup, for approximately $6 billion, according to sources cited by Reuters. If this acquisition proceeds, it would mark the largest transaction in Anthropic's history. However, the discussions are still ongoing, and both companies have chosen not to comment, so the deal may ultimately not be finalized.

      What makes this situation noteworthy is not the financial figure but rather the acquisition target. Decart does not create a competing chatbot but rather develops software that enhances the efficiency of existing chips, reducing the costs involved in training and operating AI models. In a time focused on cost-effectiveness, especially with cheaper Chinese models challenging Western firms and investors growing cautious about unlimited computing expenses, spending $6 billion on such a venture stands out.

      Decart was established in 2023 by three Israeli engineers: Dean Leitersdorf, Orian Leitersdorf, and Moshe Shalev. In addition to its focus on efficiency, the company has a more glamorous aspect involving generative video and world models, demonstrated in its Oasis showcase from October 2024. Nevertheless, it is the more mundane chip-efficiency aspect that aligns more closely with Anthropic’s current priorities, rather than the more flashy video capabilities.

      The proposed price indicates a significant increase in valuation. A year ago, Decart was valued at $3.1 billion in August 2025 and approached $4 billion this May following a $300 million funding round led by Radical Ventures. A $6 billion acquisition would represent around a 50% premium over this latest valuation, showcasing a rapid growth trajectory for the relatively young company.

      Anthropic operates on a vastly different scale, having seen its valuation soar to nearly $965 billion after its latest substantial funding round. In early June, it also confidentially submitted an S-1 filing to the SEC, which is a precursor to going public. This would be Anthropic's fifth acquisition of the year, following at least four smaller transactions, yet this would be by far the largest, with the timing occurring so close to a potential public offering likely being deliberate.

      The rationale is quite clear. Anthropic is engaged in the same competitive compute race as its peers, and the cost of that competition is a critical metric that prospective investors in the public market will closely examine. Acquiring a company focused on maximizing the efficiency of each chip serves to strengthen infrastructure and manage costs ahead of any public disclosure.

      This scenario reflects a somewhat European ethos, where an AI frontrunner spends significantly to achieve lower overall costs, anticipating that the market now favors efficiency over mere size. This mindset is also evident in Anthropic’s recent business strategies, such as its multi-year GPU agreement with CoreWeave to run Claude at scale, part of a broader effort to secure capacity on favorable terms.

      Furthermore, Anthropic wasn't the only interested party, as Nvidia, SpaceX, and Amazon were also reportedly keen on Decart, indicating that the market has recognized efficiency as a crucial strategic asset rather than just a desirable addition. When a chip manufacturer, a space company, and a cloud provider are all pursuing the same startup, the importance of the concept is clearly substantial.

      There is an intriguing irony here. For years, leading labs insisted that the key to improved AI lay in ever-larger models and data centers. Now, with an initial public offering on the horizon and a market focused on cost-efficiency, one of the strongest advocates for scaling up appears willing to invest a historic sum to become smaller, more cost-effective, and streamlined.