Decart, a young artificial intelligence startup that emerged from stealth mode just two months ago, has raised $32 million in Series A funding led by Benchmark, valuing the company at over $500 million. This significant investment comes on the heels of Decart's impressive debut, which saw the company release its first consumer product, Oasis, a playable "open world" AI model, and generate millions of dollars in revenue from its first enterprise product, an optimization tool for GPU use.

Decart's CEO and co-founder, Dean Leitersdorf, has ambitious plans to build a "kilocorn" – a trillion-dollar company – and is not just focused on competing with established AI players like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Mistral. Leitersdorf's vision is to create a fully vertically integrated AI research lab that develops both enterprise and consumer products. The company's first enterprise product, which optimizes GPU use, has already brought in millions of dollars in revenue, and its consumer product, Oasis, has attracted "millions" of players.

The funding round, which also saw participation from Sequoia and Zeev Ventures, brings Decart's total funding to $53 million. This significant investment is a testament to the company's impressive momentum, which has seen it go from seed funding to a valuation of over $500 million in just two months.

Leitersdorf's background is equally impressive. The 26-year-old CEO co-founded Decart with Moshe Shalev, who has an impressive background in computer science and AI, having helped establish and run AI operations for the IDF's 8200 intelligence unit. The company's third co-founder, whose name has not been disclosed due to existing commitments, also has an equally impressive background.

Decart's focus is on three primary areas: systems, models, and data. Its first product, which launched while the company was still in stealth mode, is a software tool that helps optimize GPU processes when training and running inference workloads on AI models. This tool has been highly successful, with companies using it to bring down operational costs associated with building and using artificial intelligence. Leitersdorf claims that workloads that might typically cost $100/hour to run can be brought down to a mere 25 cents/hour using Decart's software.

The company's second product, Oasis, is a "playable" AI that generates real-time, responsive AI-based audio and visual interactions. Decart plans to launch more experiences like Oasis, including upgraded versions of the game and other experiences powered by generative AI and interactivity. These could include AR or VR experiences that do not require specific hardware to run.

While Decart's ambitions are impressive, the company still has some unanswered questions, such as its position on customers who want to use its optimization software to build or run nefarious models. Leitersdorf acknowledged that these are not scenarios that have presented themselves yet, but it is an issue that the company will need to address in the future.

For now, Decart is focused on getting more people interested in its work across the platform and turning that activity into revenue. As Leitersdorf noted, "The real king makers are the users. They are the only ones that matter."

With its significant funding and impressive momentum, Decart is poised to make a significant impact in the AI industry. As the company continues to build its "kilocorn" empire, it will be interesting to see how it addresses the challenges and opportunities that come with its rapid growth.