The Talks: What WSJ Reported
The Wall Street Journal reported on October 11, 2026, citing people familiar with the matter, that Amazon is in talks to acquire AI startup Decart. According to the publication, the deal could be valued at around $7 billion. Reuters also carried the story but stressed that it could not independently verify the WSJ report. Neither Amazon nor Decart responded to requests for comment.
The stage of the talks has not been disclosed, but the parties are actively discussing terms. Sources of The Wall Street Journal say the deal could come together soon if talks do not fall apart or another buyer does not emerge. For now both scenarios remain open: the talks could succeed or stall, as there is no official confirmation of the deal from the parties.
The estimated $7 billion figure is significantly higher than Decart's last known valuation. In May 2026 — five months before the WSJ report — the company was valued at nearly $4 billion. If the talks conclude around the reported figure, the startup's market value will have surged within five months.
This story concerns an unconfirmed deal: WSJ relied in its report on "people familiar with the matter," while Reuters openly stated it could not independently confirm the information. The parties themselves did not respond to comment requests. So for now, all details of the deal remain within reports from the two publications based on their sources.
The sole source for the deal figure is WSJ's people familiar with the matter. Reuters did not independently confirm that figure, and the parties declined to comment. So $7 billion is an estimated negotiating figure, not a final price; it could change by the time the talks conclude.
Who Is Decart: Three Engineers, Three Years
Decart was founded in 2023 — the company is just over three years old. Its founders are three Israeli engineers: brothers Dean and Orian Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev. According to PitchBook, in that short time the startup raised more than $400 million from prominent venture firms including Sequoia Capital, Benchmark, and Radical Ventures.
Few companies reach billion-dollar valuations within three years in AI. Interest in Decart shows in a string of deal talks: in August 2026 Anthropic and in October Amazon explored acquiring the startup. Both cases are documented in open sources — the first in Bloomberg News reports, the second in The Wall Street Journal. All three founders come from engineering: brothers Dean and Orian Leitersdorf and their partner Moshe Shalev founded the company in 2023 and brought it to a billion-dollar valuation within three years.
WSJ and Reuters materials single out the company's two key products — Lucy and Oasis. More on each below.
The Products: Lucy and Oasis
One of Decart's key products is the Lucy model. According to the company's website, the Nvidia-backed model can edit live video in real time: the video stream is continuously transformed, and the result is visible immediately. Lucy processes the live stream itself, not recorded footage — the key feature setting it apart from traditional video-editing tools.
The second major direction is the Oasis model. It generates simulated environments for training and testing robotics and autonomous driving systems. In other words, Oasis creates a digital copy of the real world, and robots train inside that environment. The environments it creates are used both to train and to test robotics systems — so Oasis serves both the training and the testing stages.
Both products are real-time AI systems: one edits live video, the other generates surroundings. Most information about the products relies on the company's own website — Reuters also cited Lucy from that source. Nvidia is connected to Decart in two ways: the chip giant both backed the Lucy model and joined the May funding round as a new investor.
Funding History and Valuation Dynamics
Decart's funding history shows steady growth. In May 2026 the company raised $300 million in a round led by Radical Ventures, with Nvidia joining as a new investor. According to PitchBook, the startup was valued at nearly $4 billion at the time.
In total, Decart has raised more than $400 million in venture funding. The sum combines several rounds involving Sequoia Capital, Benchmark, and Radical Ventures. The $300 million May round makes up the largest part of the total — meaning more than $100 million was raised in earlier rounds. The round's results are also reflected in PitchBook data: WSJ, citing that source, wrote that the company was valued at nearly $4 billion in May.
The valuation dynamics are also notable: the gap between the nearly $4 billion May valuation and the estimated $7 billion deal figure in October spans five months. $7 billion is not the final deal price but an estimated figure based on WSJ sources; it could change as talks conclude. Still, even as an estimate it is significantly above the May valuation.
Two Giants' Interest: Amazon and Anthropic
Amazon built a technology partnership with Decart well before the talks. Amazon Web Services gave the startup early access to its custom Trainium3 AI chip in 2025. Amazon developed the chip to compete with Nvidia's graphics processors. So the two companies' relationship began before the deal talks — at chip-infrastructure level. Decart got early access to the Trainium3 chip in 2025 — a year before the talks began.
Amazon is not the first major tech company to show interest in Decart. According to Bloomberg News, Anthropic explored acquiring the startup for about $6 billion in August 2026. But in September, after due diligence, the company decided not to proceed. Anthropic has not publicly explained the decision.
Within two months, two separate deal processes played out around Decart: in August Anthropic considered an option around $6 billion and walked away; in October Amazon opened talks around $7 billion. In neither case was the figure officially confirmed — they rest on Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal sources, respectively. How Anthropic's withdrawal affected Amazon's talks is unknown — there is no public information on that.
Timeline: From 2023 to Today
Events unfolded as follows. In 2023, three Israeli engineers — brothers Dean and Orian Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev — founded Decart. In 2025, Amazon Web Services gave the startup early access to the custom Trainium3 AI chip. In May 2026, Decart raised $300 million in a Radical Ventures-led round, Nvidia joined as a new investor, and the company was valued at nearly $4 billion.
In August 2026, Anthropic explored acquiring the startup for about $6 billion — Bloomberg News reported. In September, Anthropic decided to walk away after due diligence. Finally, on October 11, 2026, The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon was in talks to acquire Decart for around $7 billion; Reuters carried the story but could not independently confirm it.
News Sources and Verification Level
The primary source for this story is The Wall Street Journal. On October 11, 2026, the publication reported citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters relayed the WSJ report to its readers but said openly it could not verify it independently. Amazon and Decart did not respond to comment requests. Information about Anthropic's August and September moves is based on a Bloomberg News report — so far the only open source.
So all key deal figures — the estimated $7 billion, the earlier $6 billion option, the $4 billion valuation, the more than $400 million raised — are publications' reports citing their sources; there are no official statements from the parties yet. PitchBook data is cited as an independent source for the funding and valuation figures.
What's Next for the Deal
For now there is no official confirmation: neither Amazon nor Decart has commented, and Reuters said it could not independently verify the WSJ report. According to WSJ sources, the next stage of the process looks like this:
"A deal could come together soon if talks do not fall apart or another suitor emerges, the Wall Street Journal reported."
That is, a deal could come together soon — if talks do not fall apart or another buyer emerges. The process's further development will depend on the parties' official statements.
