Prime Highlights
- Amazon reportedly pursues Israeli AI startup Decart in a $7 billion deal, extending its major bet on Israeli technology.
- Amazon’s 2015 Annapurna Labs acquisition for $350 million laid the foundation for its in-house silicon business at Amazon Web Services.
Key Facts
- Decart software helps AI models run efficiently on Nvidia GPUs, Google TPUs and Amazon Trainium chips.
- Decart raised $300 million at a valuation near $4 billion, with total funding above $450 million.
Background
Amazon is reportedly pursuing Israeli AI startup Decart in a deal worth about $7 billion, a move that would mark another major bet by the company on Israeli technology.
Decart builds software that helps AI models run more efficiently on chips. The technology works across Nvidia GPUs, Google TPUs and Amazon’s own Trainium processors. Reports say the startup raised $300 million at a valuation near $4 billion, and its total funding has passed $450 million.
A purchase could open a new chapter in a strategy that began more than a decade ago. Amazon bought Annapurna Labs, an Israeli chip designer founded in Yokneam in 2011, for $350 million in 2015.
That deal helped build the foundation for the in-house silicon business at Amazon Web Services. It also gave the cloud giant greater control over the hardware that powers its data centers.
Today, Amazon’s custom chips play a central role in its push to compete with Nvidia and other technology companies. The market for AI computing keeps expanding rapidly.
Dean Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev founded Decart in 2023, and the company employs about 100 people. Decart also promotes Oasis as a simulation platform built for physical AI and robotics. Nvidia has invested in the startup and reportedly held talks with it earlier. Reports name Amazon as a possible buyer, and Decart declined to comment.