The key “reinforcement” on the eve of the IPO? Anthropic is rumored to be negotiating a $6 billion acquisition of Decart AI to optimize AI computing power efficiency

The Zhitong Finance App learned that with only a few weeks left until the high-profile initial public offering (IPO), artificial intelligence giant Anthropic PBC is speeding up its technological moat through acquisitions. According to people familiar with the matter, the AI star company is in in-depth negotiations to acquire Israeli AI infrastructure startup Decart AI, and the deal is valued at around $6 billion. Once settled, this deal will be Anthropic's largest merger and acquisition to date, and it is also Anthropic's most critical “technical reinforcement” move before the IPO—it is worth noting that Nvidia was originally a potential buyer of this deal, but was cut off by Anthropic when negotiations came to an end.

Decart AI: Israel's upstart that makes chips “run faster”

Decart AI was founded by Dean Leitersdorf, brothers Orian Leitersdorf, and Moshe Shalev in Israel in 2023. The startup's core capability is to maximize the operational efficiency of various chips—its software can optimize the training and inference process of AI models, helping developers “extract” more computing power from existing hardware.

Technical layout:

Chip performance optimization layer: helps AI developers to efficiently run models on various types of chips from Nvidia to AMD, etc., which is of great strategic value at a time when AI computing power is scarce;

Generative video and “world model”: real-time video streams can be modified instantly, showing that they have a high-quality infrastructure talent pool.

Financing trajectory and valuation transition: In May of this year, Decart just completed a $300 million financing led by Radical Ventures. Nvidia, Atreides Management, Valor Equity Partners, and Adobe Ventures participated in the follow-up investment, and the post-investment valuation was close to $4 billion. This means that in just three months, Anthropic's bid boosted Decart's valuation by 50%.

More dramatically, Decart originally came close to reaching a sale agreement with Nvidia. But as negotiations came to an end, another “bigger” buyer stepped in, and the founders decided to take a turn. The industry generally speculates that this “beardbreaker” is Anthropic.

Anthropic's strategic logic: “last mile” reinforcement before the IPO

If this $6 billion acquisition were to happen, it would have triple strategic significance for Anthropic:

First, the “leverage effect” of computing power efficiency. Anthropic has committed tens of billions of dollars to build data centers equipped with expensive chips. Decart's optimization technology allows existing infrastructure to carry greater demand, which is equivalent to adding “leverage” to Anthropic's computing power investment in a context where chip supply continues to be tight. Decart's team anticipates incorporating the entirety of Anthropic's reasoning and performance organization.

Second, the valuation “escort” on the eve of the IPO. Anthropic is planning to complete the listing in September or early October, and the valuation target is as high as 965 billion US dollars to 1 trillion US dollars. The completion of a high-profile strategic acquisition on the eve of the IPO will help tell open market investors a more complete “AI full stack” story.

Third, differentiation from competition with OpenAI. In a context where OpenAI continues to win on scale, Anthropic chose to establish barriers in terms of efficiency. Decart's ability to “achieve higher performance on the same chip” complements Anthropic's “safe and controllable” technical philosophy.

IPO countdown: a “stress test” of the trillion-dollar valuation

Anthropic's IPO is in its final sprint. The company has previously secretly submitted a draft S-1 prospectus to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the prediction market platform Kalshi, traders believe that the probability that Anthropic will announce a listing within 2026 has risen to 85%.

However, the “stress test” of the trillion-dollar valuation has revealed a rift during the pre-IPO investor conference. Investors are focusing on three major questions: the competitive threat of low-cost Chinese AI systems; the tense relationship between Anthropic and the Trump administration; and the “lessons from the past,” where SpaceX's stock price plummeted from $225 to $108 after listing.

Industry Perspective: Basic Model Companies Bid for “Efficiency Layer” Assets

Anthropic's acquisition of Decart reflects a deeper trend in the AI industry: basic model companies are competing to acquire inference and efficiency capabilities rather than relying entirely on in-house construction. As the scale of AI models continues to expand and computing power costs remain high, “efficiency” is becoming as important a competitive dimension as “performance.”

Meanwhile, both OpenAI and Anthropic have promised to invest tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars to build data centers. Under the pressure of high capital expenditure, improving the efficiency of the utilization of existing infrastructure through acquisitions is becoming a more cost-effective path.

Originally an investor and potential buyer of Decart, Nvidia was “robbed” by Anthropic in the final stages of negotiations. This reveals a deep trend: AI model developers are actively building their own technology stacks rather than simply relying on chip vendors.

As competition on the scale of computing power becomes homogenized, “how to use computing power more efficiently” is becoming the core competitiveness of AI companies. The Decart takeover marks the official start of the AI efficiency war.

Of course, there are still variables in this deal — sources emphasized that negotiations have not yet been finalized and may still break down. But for Anthropic, which aims for a trillion-dollar IPO, the acquisition of Decart AI is not only a commercial decision, but also an “IPO declaration” to show the market its technological ambitions.