The Practical AI Showwith Olga Pearson and Chris Pearson
Week 50

Weekly AI Funding Report, Week 50

OpenAI Took 59.9% Of The AI Money. Without It, AI Still Doubled.

AI raised $18.36B this week, up from $3.41B, and OpenAI’s $11B was 59.9% of it. Without that round AI still raised $7.36B, more than double last week, and Shield AI and Skydio each cleared $1B.

Covered on Episode 65 of the Practical AI Show. Source: Crunchbase, AI companies only.

AI funding this week
$18.36B
Share of all venture $
75.6%
AI companies funded
81
Biggest AI round
$11BOpenAI
Tracked so far
$533.8Bacross 50 weeks

The week in brief

Of 200 funded companies this week, 81 (40.5%) were AI, taking $18.36B of the $24.29B total (75.6%). Against Week 49 ($3.41B, 66 companies), AI funding rose 438.8%, but 59.9% of it is one OpenAI round. Without it, AI raised $7.36B, up 115.9%, and the share is still 55.4% of the other $13.29B. This is the eighth-largest AI week of 50 and the eighth-highest share.

The top five took 84.2% of AI dollars, up from 46.4%, and thirteen rounds of $100M or more took 92.9%. The typical AI round was $15.0M, up from $12.0M. The United States took 92.1% of AI dollars.

Where the money went

  • United States 92.1%
  • China 2.7%
  • Europe 2.1%
  • Asia-Pacific (ex-China) 1.3%
  • Rest of world 1.2%
  • Latin America 0.4%
  • Middle East & Africa 0.2%

  • United States$16.90B

    Up from $1.55B and 34 companies. OpenAI ($11B) is 65.1% of it, then Shield AI ($2B), Skydio ($1.2B), Mercor ($750M) and Torus ($500M).

  • China$498.9M

    Up from $435.2M. UniPat AI ($300M, Shanghai, AI for scientific research) and Nature Select ($100M, Nanshan) are 80.2% of it, then UniX AI ($74.9M, humanoid robots, Suzhou).

  • Europe$386.2M

    Down from $1.08B and 16 companies. Onodrim Industries ($300M, Amsterdam, defense technology) is 77.7% of it, then Sumary ($25M, Copenhagen) and SPARETECH ($20M, Stuttgart).

  • Asia-Pacific (ex-China)$236.2M

    Up from $96.9M. Sand.ai ($200M, Singapore, AI video generation) is 84.7% of it, then Vudoo ($15.2M, Melbourne) and i14 ($9.0M, Melbourne).

  • Rest of world$226.0M

    Blue J ($176M, tax research) and Beacon Holdings ($50M, software acquisitions), both in Toronto, Canada. Last week was $108.0M.

  • Latin America$75.0M

    Clara ($65M, São Paulo, corporate spend) and Palomma ($10M, Medellín, real estate finance). Up from $34.5M.

  • Middle East & Africa$33.0M

    Dreeze ($33M, Tel Aviv, application recovery). Down from $103.5M and three companies.

The top five AI rounds

  1. OpenAI $11B

    Series not stated · San Francisco

    OpenAI makes ChatGPT and the AI models behind it. This one round is 59.9% of the week’s AI dollars and more than the other 80 AI companies combined.

  2. Shield AI $2B

    Series H · San Diego · $28.8B valuation · Blackstone, Disruptive, InnovationX

    Shield AI builds AI pilots and drones for defense. The raise comes with its $5.3B deal to buy the radar maker Echodyne.

  3. Skydio $1.2B

    Corporate round · San Mateo · $5.2B valuation before the money · Axon

    Skydio makes AI-flown drones for government, business and consumer customers. Axon raised its stake from about 15% to about 37% and became Skydio’s exclusive public-safety distributor in the US and Canada.

  4. Mercor $750M

    Series D · San Francisco · $20B valuation

    Mercor runs an AI-based hiring platform that matches people to jobs.

  5. Torus $500M

    Series C · Salt Lake City · Magnetar Capital

    Torus builds integrated energy and computing infrastructure for AI. It is the week’s largest bet on the electricity side of AI.

Also notable: Onodrim Industries $300M (Series A, defense and industrial technology, Amsterdam, Lux Capital) · Path Robotics $300M (robotic automation for manufacturing, Columbus) · UniPat AI $300M (AI for scientific research, Shanghai) · Sand.ai $200M (video generation models, Singapore) · Blue J $176M (tax research, Toronto) · Mavria $130M (seed round, physical infrastructure for AI, San Diego) · Rox $100M (AI agents for sales teams, San Francisco).

  • Defense and drones took $3.5B. Shield AI, Skydio and Onodrim Industries are 19.1% of AI dollars, and the first two cleared $1B each in the same week.
  • One round is the week. OpenAI is 59.9% of AI dollars and the top five are 84.2%. Without OpenAI the week is $7.36B across 80 companies.
  • Power and data centers kept raising. Torus ($500M), Mavria ($130M) and Atomarine ($19M) raised $649M, 3.5% of AI dollars.
  • Software for professional work drew $1.10B. Mercor, Blue J, Rox and Kalepa raised $1.10B between them, 6.0% of AI dollars.
  • Robots kept raising. Path Robotics ($300M), UniX AI ($74.9M) and Humble Robotics ($51M) raised $426M. Seed and Series A were 50 rounds and $1.49B, 8.1% of AI dollars.