Anthropic has decided against acquiring AI startup Decart after conducting due diligence on a deal valued at roughly $6 billion, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg News1,6,9.
The decision ends what would have been one of the largest acquisitions in the AI sector. Anthropic had been exploring the purchase and completed a due diligence review before stepping away from the transaction4. Representatives for both Anthropic and Decart declined to comment.
The two companies may still pursue other forms of collaboration, one person familiar with the matter said. Bloomberg News first reported in August that Anthropic was in talks to buy Decart for around $6 billion, though nothing had been finalized and the talks could fall through2.
Reuters reported last month that Anthropic was in talks to acquire Nvidia Corp.-backed Decart as the Claude maker explored acquisitions that could help it handle growing demand ahead of a planned public listing7. Decart develops software that improves chip efficiency and lowers AI training and operating costs. The startup has also built models including its Lucy live-video editing mode and Oasis simulation platform.
Anthropic rarely makes large acquisitions and has instead focused spending on computing power ahead of a highly anticipated IPO. The company is expected to begin marketing the offering in mid-October at the earliest and is targeting a listing before the U.S. midterm elections in November8. One TradingKey analysis framed the decision as clearing obstacles for the IPO push, noting that proceeding with the acquisition could have introduced auditing uncertainties, valuation disputes, and antitrust scrutiny.
Separately, Anthropic has expanded into life sciences, acquiring Coefficient Bio earlier this year and launching tools such as Claude Science and the Model Hardware Standard.
The abandoned deal arrives as Anthropic scales its infrastructure commitments. The company has entered into agreements for at least 14.8 GW of compute capacity since October, a buildout that could cost as much as $517 billion over the next decade[1]. It also sealed a $35 billion cloud-computing deal with Nvidia Corp.-backed Lambda.
ANALYSIS Walking away from a $6 billion acquisition while simultaneously committing hundreds of billions to compute infrastructure and preparing for a public listing narrows Anthropic's near-term capital deployment to raw capacity rather than external technology acquisitions. The open door to future collaboration with Decart leaves open the possibility of a smaller partnership or a post-IPO revisit of the deal.