Anthropic in talks to acquire AI startup Decart for $6 billion ahead of planned IPO

Anthropic is in early-stage talks to acquire Nvidia-backed AI startup Decart for approximately $6 billion. The acquisition, which would be Anthropic's largest to date, aims to help the company handle surging demand and capacity constraints ahead of a planned $2 trillion IPO in October 2026. Decart, founded by Dean Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev, develops world models and chip optimization software that reduces AI training costs. If finalized, Decart's team will join Anthropic's inference and performance division.

Anthropic acquisition of Decart

• ▪Anthropic PBC is in early-stage talks to acquire the artificial intelligence startup Decart AI for approximately $6 billion.
• ▪Decart AI raised $300 million in a May 2026 funding round led by Radical Ventures, valuing the startup at nearly $4 billion.
• ▪If the acquisition is finalized, Decart AI's workforce is expected to join Anthropic PBC's inference and performance division.
• ▪The May 2026 funding round for Decart AI included participation from Nvidia, Adobe Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Benchmark.
• ▪Decart AI was founded by Dean Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev.

Decart world models

• ▪Decart AI developed the Oasis model, which generates simulation environments to train and test robotics and autonomous driving systems.
• ▪Decart AI developed the Lucy model, which enables real-time video editing.
• ▪Decart AI develops world models, which are designed to simulate the physical world.

Decart chip optimization software

• ▪The chip optimization technology developed by Decart AI is intended to help Anthropic PBC's existing infrastructure absorb more demand.
• ▪Decart AI develops software that helps computer chips operate more efficiently, reducing the cost of training artificial intelligence models.

Anthropic IPO plans

• ▪Anthropic PBC is planning an initial public offering in October 2026 at a targeted valuation of $2 trillion.
• ▪Investors estimate that Anthropic PBC's annual revenue run rate will reach between $100 billion and $120 billion by the end of 2026.

AI infrastructure capacity constraints

• ▪Anthropic PBC is spending heavily on computing power to develop new products, serve customers, and overcome capacity constraints.
• ▪Anthropic PBC announced in August 2026 that it is hiring engineers to co-design custom chips and AI models to make its Claude assistant run faster.