Anthropic moves to buy AI startup Decart for $6 billion

Anthropic PBC is in talks to acquire artificial intelligence startup Decart AI for about $6 billion, according to a Bloomberg report published on August 13, 2026, citing people familiar with the matter. The negotiations have not been finalized and could still fall through before any agreement is signed.

The proposed transaction would be the largest known acquisition in Anthropic's history, arriving ahead of a highly anticipated initial public offering, Yahoo Finance reported. Neither Anthropic nor Decart has publicly confirmed the talks as of the coverage date.

Decart builds so-called world models that aim to simulate the physical world, as well as software that can reduce the cost of training AI by helping chips work more efficiently, Bloomberg reported. The startup was founded roughly three years ago by Dean Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev, and is consistently described by Times of Israel as Israeli-founded.

Reuters confirmed the talks separately, citing a source familiar with the matter who said Anthropic is exploring acquisitions that could help it handle growing demand ahead of its public listing. The two reports landed within a day of each other, amplifying market attention on the Claude maker's infrastructure strategy.

Decart reached a $4 billion valuation in May 2026 with backing from Nvidia and Toyota, according to TradingKey. The proposed $6 billion price represents roughly a 50% premium within three months, underscoring how quickly investor appetite for AI infrastructure plays has escalated.

The Bloomberg scoop followed an earlier exclusive from Israeli outlet Calcalist/CTech on August 10, 2026, which reported that Decart was in advanced talks to be sold for $6 billion to $7 billion to a major international technology company. That report named potential buyers including Nvidia, SpaceX, Amazon, and Nebius, before Anthropic emerged as the leading bidder days later, according to Benzinga.

Coverage also indicated that Decart had nearly reached an acquisition agreement with Nvidia before a larger bidder entered the process and negotiations shifted. The negotiations are now taking place primarily in the United States despite Decart's Israeli roots, according to Bloomberg TV reporting.

If the transaction closes, Decart's team would join Anthropic's inference and performance organization, strengthening its ability to serve rising demand for Claude models, Bloomberg reported. The move would help Anthropic absorb growing compute workloads while lowering operational costs, a key priority for any frontier-model company preparing for public market scrutiny.

Reports further suggest that a completed deal could form the basis of an Anthropic development center in Israel, deepening the country's role in global chip-efficiency and world-model research. That outcome remains speculative, as no official statement has been issued by either company.

For African startups building on cloud GPUs from AWS, Google Cloud, and Nvidia-partnered platforms, Decart's efficiency software carries indirect but meaningful weight. Lower global compute costs could make AI infrastructure more affordable for price-sensitive founders across Nigeria and the continent, where access to high-performance hardware remains a persistent bottleneck.

Decart's trajectory also offers a case study for African deep-tech founders. A three-year-old company reaching a $4 billion to $7 billion valuation shows how specialized infrastructure startups can attract strategic capital from industrial and cloud players such as Nvidia and Toyota. African accelerators and hubs looking to connect portfolio startups with large corporate partners can study how this deal was structured around a narrow, high-value technical niche.

Consolidation among frontier-model companies will likely intensify as Anthropic prepares for its IPO. African regulators and policymakers watching AI infrastructure concentration may consider similar issues locally, especially as Nigerian startups increasingly depend on foreign AI platforms.

Bloomberg reporter Natasha Mascarenhas described the development on X as "a rare massive acquisition for the Claude maker & a key development in the race to build more efficient AI infrastructure."

The talks remain early stage. Watch for formal confirmation from either company and any regulatory filings that would signal the deal is moving toward completion. If finalized, the acquisition would reshape Anthropic's infrastructure capacity just as public market investors begin pricing its growth story.