When Elon Musk said "Wow": How the Israeli Decart became a central axis in the AI arms race
Why is the AI giant Anthropic willing to pay $7 billion for an Israeli company founded only three years ago? It's not just the technology, but also the company's human capital, led by brothers Dean and Orian Leitersdorf, descendants of a famous economic dynasty. Also: the promise from Anthropic that tipped the scales in the acquisition race, which also included Nvidia, Google, Amazon, and SpaceX.
The deal between the Israeli AI company Decart and the American AI giant Anthropic, expected to be signed soon, will be recorded as one of the phenomenal achievements of Israeli high-tech. Anthropic intends to move a significant part of its operations to Israel and place the Decart teams at the heart of the effort to develop Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
The Path to Success
In an article published at the end of 2024, we wrote: "Remember the name 'Decart', because there is a non-negligible chance that you will hear about it a lot more." Less than two years later, the company became the first Israeli AI unicorn and is now set to be sold for $7 billion. Decart was founded in late 2023 by Dr. Dean Leitersdorf (28) and Moshe Shalev (39), who met during their military service in Unit 8200. Later, Dr. Orian Leitersdorf, Dean's younger brother, joined the founders.
The Leitersdorf brothers, descendants of a famous business family known for owning the Shalom Tower in Tel Aviv, are considered two of the most brilliant minds in the local high-tech industry. Dean became the youngest Israeli to complete a doctorate at the Technion at age 23 — a record recently broken by his brother Orian. The three founders are estimated to hold over 60% of the company's shares. If the deal proceeds, their share will be approximately $1.5 billion each, primarily in Anthropic stock, as the company prepares for an IPO in New York.
A Decisive Factor for Anthropic
For Anthropic, the acquisition of Decart is the largest in its history, indicating how critical the Israeli company's technology is for winning the race for AGI. Unlike other potential buyers, Anthropic will allow Decart to become a central axis in the defining event of the current era, influencing the world technologically, economically, and socially.
Decart's technology accelerates AGI development, the "golden fleece" of the industry. Amid fierce competition from OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Elon Musk's SpaceX, as well as Chinese firms, Decart provides Anthropic with an advantage in lowering costs and scaling AI tools. Decart's models, trained on proprietary data, optimize inference processes — the core product sold by Anthropic. This technological depth impressed even Elon Musk, who responded "Wow" upon witnessing Decart's video model, which generates continuous video unlike the short clips produced by competitors.
Human Capital and Ecosystem
Behind these innovations is an engineering team with expertise in advanced technological units like Unit 8200, specializing in "low-level" programming and GPU optimization. Anthropic's entry into Israel could serve as an anchor for the local AI ecosystem, attracting other international companies to establish R&D centers.
Despite interest from Nvidia, Google, Amazon, and Nebius, Decart chose the acquisition path, following in the footsteps of companies like Mellanox or Annapurna. Sequoia Capital, the company's largest investor, has played a central role in this process. The deal is expected to close soon, serving as a significant signal to investors ahead of Anthropic's upcoming IPO, which could see the company valued at up to $2 trillion.
