Anthropic Called Off a Deal to Buy an AI Startup for a Record $6 Billion — Bloomberg

Anthropic has backed out of a roughly $6 billion deal to acquire the AI startup Decart following a comprehensive due diligence review, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. Had the negotiations resulted in a deal, it would have been the largest acquisition in Anthropic’s history; the company rarely engages in major takeovers. Representatives from both sides declined to comment.

Decart was founded in 2023 by three Israeli engineers—brothers Dean and Orian Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev. The startup develops solutions that help AI developers use computing power more efficiently—“squeeze the maximum performance out of every chip,” according to the company’s website. Bloomberg notes that its technologies were expected to enable Anthropic’s infrastructure to handle growing demand.

One of the agency's sources added that the companies may continue to look for other opportunities for collaboration.

Anthropic is investing in computing power to develop new products and serve customers ahead of its long-awaited initial public offering. According to sources who spoke with Reuters, the AI giant’s IPO marketing campaign will not begin until mid-October at the earliest, and the offering itself is expected to close a few days before the U.S. midterm congressional elections in November.

It had previously been expected that the prospectus would be published as early as this week. Now, however, Reuters sources say it is not expected to be released until late September. However, the agency notes that companies often adjust their IPO timelines due to market conditions, regulatory reviews, and other preparatory steps.

Anthropic's investors are expecting the company to be valued at $2 trillion in its IPO. If that happens, the offering will be one of the largest in history.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor