Anthropic in Talks to Acquire AI Startup Decart for $6 Billion
The Claude maker is negotiating its largest acquisition to date, targeting Decart AI’s chip optimization and video generation technologies ahead of a planned IPO.
Artificial intelligence company Anthropic PBC is in talks to acquire AI startup Decart AI for approximately $6 billion (£4.7 billion), according to people familiar with the matter.
If completed, the deal would represent the largest known acquisition to date for the maker of the Claude AI assistant, according to Bloomberg. It comes as the company prepares for an anticipated initial public offering.
The sources, who asked not to be identified as the discussions involve private negotiations, cautioned that the deal has not been finalized and that the talks could still fall through, according to CNBC TV18 and Bloomberg reporting.
Infrastructure focus and hardware optimization
Decart AI specializes in building software that helps artificial intelligence developers optimize semiconductor chip performance. The startup is also involved in developing generative video technologies, according to reporting by CNBC TV18.
The potential takeover reflects a broader push by major AI firms to secure specialized infrastructure and engineering talent capable of making model training and inference more computationally efficient. Anthropic has sought to expand its hardware optimization capabilities as computing costs for frontier models continue to climb.
Anthropic declined to comment on the negotiations, while Decart did not respond to requests for comment, CNBC TV18 reported.
High-value deal ahead of potential stock market listing
The proposed $6 billion price tag marks a rare, large-scale transaction for Anthropic. Financial observers and reporting from Bloomberg noted that the transaction would serve as a major strategic move ahead of a market debut.
The acquisition would give Anthropic direct control over specialized tools designed to extract maximum performance from AI hardware—a critical variable in the competitive generative AI landscape, where compute constraints remain a primary bottleneck for development.
Industry observers on social media expressed mixed reactions to the potential acquisition. Tech commentator Jay Kapoor noted the significant timing of such a major buyout ahead of a potential public listing, while other market watchers questioned the strategic fit of the deal for Anthropic.
What happens next
Negotiations between Anthropic and Decart remain ongoing, with no formal agreement yet reached. If the companies reach a definitive consensus, the acquisition will likely face standard regulatory review before any formal closing and integration of Decart's technology into Anthropic's platform.
