Acquisition Talks Abandoned
Anthropic Reportedly Abandons Acquisition of AI Startup Decart After Due Diligence
Anonymous
Key Points
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Decart was founded in late 2023 by Dean and Orian Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev, who previously served in Israel’s Unit 8200 military intelligence unit; Dean Leitersdorf is the company’s CEO and Shalev its chief product officer.
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Decart’s $300 million funding round was led by Radical Ventures and brought its total capital raised to more than $450 million; other backers include Nvidia, Benchmark, Adobe and Sequoia Capital.
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Anthropic’s infrastructure requirements have grown sharply: The Information reported that the company had signed about $517 billion in compute-capacity leases over the preceding 11 months, representing roughly 14.8 gigawatts of capacity.
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Decart’s products include Lucy, which generates real-time virtual try-on video from live camera footage, and Oasis, a “world model” designed to create realistic simulations for applications such as physical AI and robot training.
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The companies’ financing and acquisition discussions occurred against the backdrop of ambitious public-market plans: Anthropic was reportedly targeting a possible listing that could raise at least $75 billion at a valuation of about $2 trillion, while potentially delaying its IPO prospectus until mid-October.
Anthropic has walked away from a $6 billion deal to buy Israeli AI startup Decart after completing due diligence, Bloomberg reported on September 8, 2026. The acquisition would have valued Decart roughly 50% above its nearly $4 billion valuation from a $300 million funding round earlier this year. Neither company disclosed whether price disagreements or technical concerns uncovered during diligence prompted the withdrawal.
The collapse comes as Anthropic prepares for a potential public offering targeting a $2 trillion valuation and $75 billion in capital. The company has signed $517 billion in compute-capacity leases over 11 months—roughly 14.8 gigawatts—reflecting its surging infrastructure needs. A large stock-heavy acquisition would complicate that IPO pitch to prospective investors.
What Decart's Technology Actually Does
Decart built the Decart Optimization Stack (DOS): software designed to squeeze higher efficiency from AI chips like Nvidia GPUs, Google TPUs, and Amazon Trainium processors. The technology lowers the cost of training and running large AI models. Decart's better-known consumer products include Lucy, a real-time virtual try-on engine used by eBay, and Oasis, a "world model" that creates realistic simulations for robot training.
Why Anthropic Needed Decart's Optimization Stack
Anthropic's explosive growth in Claude usage has created a computing crisis. The company committed to roughly $517 billion in compute leases over an 11-month span, representing 14.8 gigawatts of power demand. On September 1, 2026—weeks before the Decart deal collapsed—Anthropic signed a $35 billion cloud infrastructure agreement with Lambda. Acquiring Decart's efficiency layer would have directly cut these ballooning infrastructure costs.
Anthropic planned to fold Decart's team into its internal inference and performance organization. The company also plans to develop its own AI chips, making Decart's software optimization expertise particularly valuable for that effort.
Decart's Founder Team and Major Backers
Decart was founded in late 2023 by Dean Leitersdorf (CEO), Orian Leitersdorf, and Moshe Shalev (Chief Product Officer). All three previously served in Israel's elite Unit 8200 military intelligence unit. The company raised more than $450 million total, with a $300 million Series B round in May 2026 led by Radical Ventures that valued Decart at nearly $4 billion. Other backers include Nvidia, Benchmark, Adobe, and Sequoia Capital.
Nvidia had previously explored buying Decart for an estimated $7 billion to $8 billion, The Jerusalem Post reported. Decart's founders initially favored Anthropic's stock offer over a cash deal from Nvidia, betting on higher returns from Anthropic's expected IPO.
IPO Timing and Stock Dilution Concerns
Anthropic confidentially filed its S-1 registration statement with the SEC in early June 2026, signaling an imminent public offering. Market analysts noted that a $6 billion stock-financed acquisition would dilute existing shareholders ahead of a potential $2 trillion valuation IPO. Walking away avoids that shareholder friction just before going public. The company's IPO prospectus filing has reportedly slipped toward mid-October 2026.
Both companies are reportedly exploring alternative collaboration agreements that preserve some partnership benefits without a structural merger. The outcome leaves Decart in a difficult position to restart fundraising or court other bidders like Nvidia.
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