AI companies raised $149.5 billion in equity funding in the second quarter of 2026, the second-highest quarterly total on record, according to CB Insights. The figure trailed only the record set in the first quarter of 2026, per the firm's State of AI Q2'26 report.

Deal activity moved the other way. CB Insights counted 2,479 equity deals in the quarter, and the chart that accompanies the report shows the number of deals falling 21 percent from the prior quarter. Funding therefore concentrated into fewer, larger transactions.

The concentration is the central finding. CB Insights reports that 89 percent of AI funding in the quarter went to just 142 mega-rounds. Anthropic alone accounted for three of the quarter's five largest financings, according to the firm.

The report also points to continued momentum in company formation at the top of the market. AI recorded 37 new unicorns, the strongest quarter for new AI unicorn creation since the second quarter of 2022, according to CB Insights. The firm's summary also notes a chip challenger that went public in the quarter, entering territory dominated by Nvidia.

The multi-year chart tracks quarterly equity funding as columns and deal counts as a line from the first quarter of 2022 through the second quarter of 2026. Funding stayed in a lower range through 2023 and most of 2024, then climbed through 2025 and into 2026, while deal counts drifted lower over the same stretch. CB Insights notes that the figures cover equity deals only.

The full report, which includes the investors, verticals and countries leading AI investment, is available to CB Insights customers.

Source: CB Insights -- https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/ai-trends-q2-2026/