Amazon is reportedly in talks to acquire the AI startup Decart for approximately $7 billion, according to a BigGo Finance report — a deal that would rank among the largest acquisitions of a private AI company to date.

The report frames the negotiation as a second act. Anthropic, the Amazon-backed AI lab, had previously been in discussions to buy Decart but walked away from a transaction. Amazon has now stepped in as the prospective buyer, with the reported price tag sitting at $7 billion.

Neither Amazon, Anthropic, nor Decart has confirmed the talks, and the figures stem from a single report rather than company disclosures or regulatory filings. Amazon does not typically comment on acquisition speculation, and Decart remains private, so no audited valuation has been published.

What does a $7 billion price signal?

The reported number matters because it anchors the upper end of what a large buyer will pay for an AI startup that has not gone public. For context on how BigGo Finance presents the story: Amazon is negotiating a purchase at roughly $7 billion, after Anthropic — itself a major recipient of Amazon investment — declined to complete a deal.

That sequence carries commercial weight. When one strategic bidder exits and another enters at a similar scale, it suggests the asset's value is being tested against two very different buyers with two very different integration theses: a frontier model lab on one side, a hyperscale cloud and device platform on the other.

Why would Amazon buy rather than partner?

Amazon's AI strategy to date has combined internal silicon, major equity stakes in model developers, and managed model access through its cloud platform. An outright acquisition of Decart, if completed, would shift that posture from investing in external capabilities to absorbing them.

For Anthropic, walking away indicates a ceiling on what the lab judged the startup to be worth — or a strategic reassessment of what it needed to own outright. The report does not state the reason for the withdrawal, so any explanation beyond the fact of the exit would be speculation.

What remains unconfirmed?

Plenty. The talks are described only as ongoing. Key terms that would define the deal's real shape are absent from the report:

• Whether the $7 billion figure is cash, stock, or includes earnouts
• Whether Decart's existing investors have agreed to any terms
• A timeline for signing or closing
• Any regulatory review expectations

Until an agreement is announced, the $7 billion figure should be treated as a reported negotiating position, not a settled valuation.

What happens next?

If the talks progress to a signed agreement, the transaction would move into antitrust review in the relevant jurisdictions, where large technology acquisitions of AI startups have drawn increased regulatory scrutiny. If they collapse, Decart would return to a market where a $7 billion anchor has already been placed on its perceived value by a second major bidder's interest.

For now, the story's hard facts stand on one report: Amazon in talks, a $7 billion price on the table, and Anthropic out of the picture. Whether a deal closes on those terms will shape how buyers price AI startups — and how quickly — in the months ahead.