Elon Musk denies Calcalist report: Not buying Decart
The founder of SpaceX responded with "fake news" to claims that his company is in advanced negotiations to acquire the Israeli AI startup Decart for $6-7 billion. While the Calcalist report suggested Decart was "in Musk's sights," it also listed Amazon and Nebius as potential buyers.
Elon Musk has denied that SpaceX is in negotiations to acquire the Israeli artificial intelligence company Decart. Musk responded with the words "fake news" to a post on the X network, which claimed that his space company was in advanced negotiations to acquire the Israeli startup at a valuation of $6-7 billion, citing a report by Calcalist.
The original Calcalist report stated that Decart was nearing a sale for approximately $6 billion and that the company was "in Musk's sights." The post to which Musk responded identified SpaceX as the intended buyer, claiming the deal could be signed within a week, and featured a composite image of the Decart and SpaceX logos. The post was published by an account named S.E. Robinson Jr., which deleted the content following Musk's response, later acknowledging that the claim had been "debunked by Elon."
According to Calcalist, Decart is in advanced negotiations to sell to an international technology giant for $6-7 billion, though the buyer's identity was not disclosed. Industry sources had speculated that the buyer could be SpaceX, while Amazon and the cloud company Nebius were also mentioned as potential interested parties. It was further claimed that Decart had previously negotiated with Nvidia but pivoted after receiving a higher offer. Decart declined to comment. Nvidia did not deny previous talks, but estimates suggest those negotiations have concluded. Furthermore, senior market figures have dismissed the speculation regarding Nebius.
Despite the denial, it is widely expected that Decart will be sold to an international firm soon, following recent product adjustments and reported pressure from investors to improve product focus. Founded in 2023 by Unit 8200 alumni Dean Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev, Decart employs about 100 people. The company develops real-time video generation models and gained fame for Oasis, an AI-driven interactive game. Three months ago, Decart raised $300 million at a $4 billion valuation, bringing its total funding to approximately $450 million.
This is not the first time a Calcalist report has been challenged. Last month, the outlet claimed OpenAI planned to open operations in Israel, a claim denied by sources close to the company. Similarly, Calcalist recently reported that Cisco was in talks to acquire the cyber firm Zafran for several hundred million dollars—a claim denied by both the CEO and sources within Cisco.
Full disclosure: Calcalist (part of the Yedioth Ahronoth group) and Globes are competing newspapers.
