Anthropic has abandoned plans to acquire Israeli artificial intelligence startup Decart after conducting due diligence on the company, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, marking a reversal from talks over a transaction that could have valued the startup at about $6 billion.
The Claude chatbot maker had explored an acquisition of Decart and advanced far enough in the process to conduct due diligence. Anthropic ultimately decided not to pursue the transaction.
The two companies could still work together in other ways, Bloomberg reported, leaving open the possibility that Anthropic sees value in Decart’s technology even though it has decided against buying the company outright.
The decision is notable because the reported acquisition would have given Anthropic control of technology aimed at one of the most consequential constraints facing the AI industry: the cost and efficiency of computing.
Decart develops software designed to improve the efficiency of AI chips and reduce the cost of training and running AI models. For an AI company whose products require enormous amounts of computing capacity, the technology addresses a problem that sits at the center of its rapidly expanding business.
Anthropic has been increasing its spending on computing capacity as it develops new products and prepares for a potential initial public offering. That made the reported discussions with Decart particularly significant. Rather than simply adding another AI application to its portfolio, Anthropic appeared to be considering an investment in the underlying economics of operating increasingly powerful AI systems.
The reported $6 billion price tag would also have represented a substantial bet on the importance of that technology. But after reviewing Decart’s business and technology in detail, Anthropic has now decided that an acquisition is not the right path.
The companies’ willingness to continue exploring other forms of collaboration suggests the decision does not necessarily reflect a rejection of Decart’s technology itself. Instead, Anthropic may have concluded that it can work with the company without taking ownership of it.
Founded in 2023, Decart employs approximately 100 people and has raised $450 million to date, most recently at a $4 billion valuation.
Decart had received approaches from several other potential buyers in recent months. It initially chose to advance discussions with Nvidia, but halted that process after receiving Anthropic’s offer.