Who is Decart? From AI startup to $7B acquisition target

The AI startup has developed technology spanning real-time video generation, simulated environments, and software that helps developers run AI models across different chips, drawing interest from major technology players including Amazon.com (AMZN), which is reportedly in talks to acquire the company.

Decart’s $7B appeal

What is Decart? A San Francisco-based AI startup founded in 2023 by three Israeli engineers, brothers Dean and Orian Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev.

What does it do? Decart has two main business lines, the fastest-growing of which is known as the Decart Optimization Stack, or DOS. It is a software engine that makes it easier for AI developers to sync their models with different types of processors, many of which require custom programming libraries to operate.

The company's two world models, known as Oasis and Lucy, have business applications in e-commerce, gaming, and robotics, among other fields. Amazon (AMZN), the company’s biggest customer so far, as well as a major supplier of its Trainium chips, has already deployed Decart’s technology in several of its business units, including video streamer Twitch, online retail sales, and its movie and television studios, reports say. Decart's ​Lucy model, backed by Nvidia (NVDA) can ​edit live video in real time.

Who else has shown interest? According to earlier reports, Anthropic explored a potential $6B acquisition before deciding not to proceed.

Who are Decart’s investors? The Journal reported that Decart was valued at nearly $4B in May, citing PitchBook data. Decart raised $300M in May in a funding round ⁠led ​by Radical Ventures, with Nvidia ​joining as a new investor. Decart’s major backers also include Atreides Management, former Disney (DIS) CEO Michael Eisner, OpenAI (OPENAI) co-founder Andrej Karpathy, and the Yamashuchi family, which founded Nintendo (NTDOF).

Relevant competitors: In real-time video generation, it competes with startups such as Runway and Pika, while its work on interactive virtual worlds and simulation puts it alongside World Labs, Odyssey, and Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) DeepMind.