Amazon is in talks to buy AI video model startup Decart for around $7 billion, the WSJ reports
JUST IN: Amazon reportedly in talks to acquire AI startup Decart for approximately $7,000,000,000.00.
Context
According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon is weighing one of its largest AI acquisitions for a lab whose real time video and world simulation models could feed robotics and autonomous driving, weeks after Anthropic walked away from buying the same company.
Decart was founded in 2023 by Israeli engineers Dean and Orian Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev, according to Bloomberg. Its Lucy model edits live video in real time, and its Oasis model generates simulated environments to train and test robotics and self driving systems, Reuters reported. Decart raised $300 million in May in a round led by Radical Ventures, with Nvidia joining as an investor.
- WSJ: Amazon in talks to buy AI startup Decart for around $7 billion
- Reuters via The Straits Times: Amazon in talks to buy AI startup Decart
- Bloomberg Law: Amazon is in talks to buy AI startup Decart, WSJ reports
- Bloomberg on X: Amazon in negotiations to acquire Decart AI
- Reuters on X: Amazon in talks to buy AI startup Decart
Deep dive
The Wall Street Journal reported on October 11 that Amazon is in talks to acquire AI startup Decart in a deal that could be valued at around $7 billion, citing people familiar with the matter. According to the Journal, as relayed by Reuters and Bloomberg, a deal could come soon if the talks do not fall apart or another suitor does not emerge.
The Journal said Decart was valued at nearly $4 billion in May, citing PitchBook data. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report, and that Amazon and Decart did not respond to requests for comment.
The talks follow an earlier pursuit by Anthropic. Bloomberg reported that Anthropic explored buying Decart in August for potentially $6 billion and, after doing due diligence, decided in September not to pursue the deal.
Decart's Lucy model, which the company says can edit live video in real time, is backed by Nvidia, according to Reuters, and its Oasis model generates simulated worlds for training and testing robots and autonomous vehicles. The reports did not say how Amazon would use the company.
What to expect next
Watch whether Amazon and Decart confirm a deal in the coming weeks, at what final price, and whether a rival bidder emerges as the Journal said was possible.
Also watch how Amazon would use Decart's real time video and simulation models, whether in AWS, Alexa, robotics or Zoox, and whether regulators look closely at another big tech purchase of an AI lab.