Amazon Eyes $7B Decart Deal to Boost Trainium AI Chips
Quick Reads
- Amazon is in talks to acquire AI startup Decart for around $7 billion.
- Decart’s CEO says its real-time video model runs at up to 26 frames per second on GPUs and is approaching 101 on Trainium.
- The deal would give Amazon software to help developers get more out of its Trainium chips and move workloads across chip types.
- Anthropic explored a deal worth about $6 billion in August but decided not to pursue it after due diligence.
- No deal has been signed, and neither company has confirmed the talks.
Amazon is in talks to acquire AI startup Decart for around $7 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. The deal has not been signed. It could happen soon if talks do not fall apart or another suitor emerges.
Why Decart Matters to Amazon’s Trainium Chips
Decart’s appeal comes down to chip performance. Its CEO said its real-time video model hit a ceiling of 26 frames per second on GPUs, while on Trainium it is approaching 101 frames per second.
He also said Decart has become one of Amazon’s largest AI-chip customers, following Anthropic.
Software is where Amazon has lagged. Industry observers say that while Trainium’s hardware performance is strong, Amazon still trails Nvidia in software because of CUDA’s massive advantage.
Decart’s tools aim to close that gap, since the company develops software that makes it easy for developers to switch between different AI chips. That could help Amazon get more out of Trainium as AI workloads spread across different chip architectures.
A $7B Price Tag After Anthropic Walked Away
Decart was valued at nearly $4 billion in May, 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 a sharp jump in just a few months.
Amazon is not the first big buyer to look at Decart. Anthropic explored a deal in August for potentially $6 billion, but decided not to pursue it after due diligence, Bloomberg reported.
For Amazon, the deal would be less about video generation and more about software. A stronger Trainium software stack would make its custom silicon a more credible alternative to Nvidia. Until a deal is signed, though, it remains a report, and neither company has confirmed it.
