AI and machine learning companies took more than half of global venture capital deal value in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to a Visual Capitalist chart built on BestBrokers data compiled from PitchBook, CB Insights and LIQUiDITY.

Venture deals totaled $138.6 billion in the quarter. AI and machine learning deals accounted for $72.4 billion, or 52.2 percent, while all other sectors drew $66.2 billion. The data marks the first time AI made up more than half of deal value in the dataset.

The shift took about three years. In the first quarter of 2022, AI and machine learning deals totaled $38.9 billion against $139.5 billion for all other sectors, a 21.8 percent share. Overall deal value fell 47 percent between the first and fourth quarters of 2022 as interest rates rose and the exit market slowed.

AI funding climbed in early 2023 after the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, reaching a 32.1 percent share in the first quarter of that year. The larger change arrived in 2024. AI's share rose from 25.4 percent in the first quarter to 51.9 percent in the fourth quarter, when AI deals reached $66.7 billion and passed the $61.7 billion invested across every other sector combined.

The trend held through 2025. AI deals reached $75.5 billion in the first quarter for a 55.8 percent share, $56.9 billion in the second quarter and $65.4 billion in the third. Visual Capitalist links the growth to the capital needs of chips, data centers and large-scale model development, and notes that some investors have raised concerns about a possible bubble and circular dealmaking among major AI companies.

Source: Visual Capitalist - https://www.visualcapitalist.com/venture-capital-ai-vs-everything-else/