Eight times faster. That's the headline from Israeli AI company Decart, which yesterday released DOS 2.0, claiming 1,600 tokens per second—eight times the industry average. On the same day, the company discussed $300 million in funding, pushing its valuation to $4 billion.
Radical Ventures led the round, with Nvidia also participating. But what caught the industry's attention was the angel investor list: Andrej Karpathy himself. The OpenAI co-founder and former Tesla AI director invested his own money to become a shareholder—an uncommon move.
DOS, Lucy, Oasis: What They're Building
Founded just over a year ago, Decart has already launched three products:
- DOS: Compresses neural network optimization time from months to weeks, running across multiple chip types.
- Lucy: Enables real-time object replacement in video—for virtual try-ons, interior design, and generating training data for robots.
- Oasis: Generates 3D simulation environments for advanced robot training.
DOS is already generating revenue. According to SiliconAngle, Decart has signed licensing agreements with cloud providers and AI labs, producing significant income. The 1,600 tokens/second is just one metric; DOS 2.0 can also process 100 frames per second of HD video, serving as a backend for world models.
Lucy and Oasis are more experimental. Lucy can replace objects in a scene and automatically fix visual degradation (continuity errors between frames). Oasis directly generates 3D environments. Both products are set for new releases next month.
CEO Dean Leitersdorf said:
"World models are the key to moving AI from the virtual world into the physical world."
Why Karpathy Bet on Decart
The funding itself isn't unusual—a $300 million Series D doesn't crack the top ten in this year's AI landscape. But Decart's investor list is distinctive:
- Karpathy (OpenAI co-founder)
- Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner
- Members of the Nintendo founding family
- Gaming veteran Moritz Baier-Lentz
- Existing investors Sequoia, Zeev Ventures, and Benchmark all followed on
Karpathy's involvement is a signal. Since leaving Tesla, he has invested only in companies he believes represent "AI's next frontier." Eisner and the Nintendo family are clearly betting on world models for gaming and entertainment.
Leitersdorf added:
"Moving models between different hardwares is incredibly hard, and we've seen companies signing contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to help them shift models from one hardware to another. We're kind of the great equalizer."
Cross-chip model migration costs billions annually—Decart positions itself as the one tearing down that wall. This creates a nuanced dynamic with Nvidia: Nvidia invested, but Decart's core selling point is that models aren't locked to Nvidia hardware.
$450 Million Raised in Over a Year, Valuation Doubled in Eight Months
Last August, Decart was valued at $3.1 billion; now it's at $4 billion—a significant jump in eight months. Total funding exceeds $450 million.
DOS's licensing business already supports some revenue, while Lucy and Oasis are bets on the future—on the transition from chatbots to agents that understand the physical world, where world models become an essential middle layer.
If that bet pays off, Decart is positioned at the forefront. If not, the $300 million Series D is just another ticket for Karpathy.
Sources: CocoLoop; Decart raises $300M for its AI optimization software, world models (SiliconANGLE); Decart Raises $300M: Tech Leaders Back the Company as Both Customers and Investors (Decart AI Publications)