Amazon in talks to acquire AI startup Decart for $7 billion

By Splitfeed EditorialLast updated Oct 11, 2026, 23:50 UTC

According to a Wall Street Journal report published on October 11, 2026, Amazon is in active acquisition talks with Decart, an Israeli AI startup, at a valuation of approximately six to seven billion dollars. No agreement has been announced and the talks remain ongoing as of that date. Decart had previously attracted acquisition interest from both Nvidia and Anthropic, neither of which moved forward to a deal, making Amazon the third major technology company reported to have seriously considered buying the startup.

The detail that both Nvidia and Anthropic walked away before Amazon entered the picture is the part of this story that carries the most weight. A seven-billion-dollar price tag for a startup that two well-resourced buyers already passed on invites obvious questions about valuation and timing. The deal, if completed, would represent one of the larger AI acquisition prices reported in recent years, and it would deepen Amazon's direct ownership of AI research capabilities at a moment when the company is competing with Microsoft, Google, and others for foundation-model talent and technology. Because the talks are unfinished, the final terms, the rationale Amazon sees in Decart specifically, and the regulatory path forward all remain open.

The Pro-AI camp has not yet published reactions to this story. That camp would typically frame a deal of this scale as a healthy signal of industry confidence in AI research, and as evidence that large technology companies see continued long-term value in acquiring foundational capabilities. From the Anti-AI side, Greg Linden, posting as @glinden.bsky.social, offered a pointed skeptical note: "All this talk about AI and nothing works," suggesting a view that headline-grabbing valuations are disconnected from actual delivered value. The Middle Ground reaction, from George Z Lin posting as @gzlin.bsky.social, read the timing differently: "Amazon buying Decart feels like a panic reaction to World Labs and AMD," framing the move as defensive positioning rather than confident expansion, a reading that neither endorses nor dismisses the deal on its merits.

The clearest thing to watch is whether Amazon and Decart reach a signed agreement and at what final valuation. Any regulatory review, particularly given the cross-border nature of an American company acquiring an Israeli AI firm, could also surface new information about what Decart's technology actually does and why Amazon values it above the price Nvidia and Anthropic were willing to pay.