The AI startup makes software that lets developers move between different chips, an unusual asset for a company building its own. One earlier suitor explored a roughly $6 billion deal in August and walked away after due diligence.
Amazon is in talks to acquire Decart, a San Francisco artificial-intelligence startup, in a deal that could value it at around $7 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. A deal could come soon if the talks do not fall apart or another bidder does not emerge. Neither company has confirmed an agreement, and neither responded to requests for comment.
The price against the last round
Decart was valued at nearly $4 billion in May, according to PitchBook data, when it raised $300 million in a round led by Radical Ventures, with Nvidia joining as a new investor. A $7 billion price would be about 1.75 times that mark five months later.
It would also exceed what another buyer was prepared to discuss. Anthropic explored acquiring Decart in August for potentially about $6 billion and decided in September not to pursue the deal after due diligence. There is no indication that the two processes overlapped.
What Amazon would be buying
Decart's software makes it easier for developers to switch between different AI chips. That is an unusual asset for Amazon, which designs its own AI chips for its cloud business, Amazon Web Services.
The relationship predates the talks. AWS is a strategic customer of Decart and gave the startup early access to its Trainium3 chip in 2025. For Amazon, software that makes it easier to move AI workloads off one supplier's hardware and onto another could lower the barrier for customers considering its own chips.
The size of it
For Amazon, the money is small. The company closed Friday with a market value of about $2.82 trillion, so a $7 billion purchase would amount to about 0.25% of it. Any significance lies in strategy rather than in Amazon's financial results.
For Decart's investors, the deal would be a sizable exit through a strategic buyer rather than a public listing, a route other AI startups have also taken this year. Nvidia, an investor in Decart, is separately in early-stage talks to expand its investment in another startup, Reflection AI, or supply it with computing power. No terms have been reached in those talks.
Two readings
One reading is that Amazon is paying a strategic price for a strategic asset. Software that makes chips interchangeable fits a cloud provider trying to win workloads away from Nvidia hardware, and the existing Trainium relationship lowers integration risk.
The other is that the price reflects scarcity more than proven value. A 75% markup in five months, after a previous suitor examined the books and chose not to proceed, leaves Amazon carrying the burden of showing why it saw more than the last bidder did.
What comes next
A signed agreement with terms, any regulatory review of a large technology company buying an AI startup, and the reaction of Decart's other investors, including Nvidia, will show whether the deal closes near the reported price.