AI companies continue to gain the majority of venture funding in the third quarter of this year, data from Crunchbase shows.
Nearly half (46%) of global venture funding in the third quarter of 2025 went to AI companies, with Anthropic raking in a whopping 29% just on its own.
Globally, venture funding increased by 38% year-on-year, amounting to $97bn, an increased from the $92bn raised in the second quarter.
Anthropic had the largest venture round of the quarter, at $13bn, with xAI raking in $5.3bn, and $2bn for Mistral AI, meaning that the top three venture rounds were raised by foundation model firms.
The revelation that the AI race shows no sign of slowing down comes following the news that OpenAI is the most valuable private company in the world, with a valuation of $500 billion.
US companies dominated the funding round, with $60bn of global venture capital going to US-based firms.
The data also highlights the growing market concern of an AI bubble – similar to the dot-com bubble and the 2008 real estate bubble that crashed the economy.
While many are concerned that the AI bubble will burst – with devastating market consequences – others say that the AI market value is really just the first signs of a true technology revolution.
MarketWatch estimated that the AI bubble is 17 times bigger than the dot-com bubble, and four times larger than the 2008 bubble.
Whether this growth can be sustained or if the market will stablise – or if the bubble bursts – remains to be seen, but surely must be watched on as investors continue to pour billions into AI firms.
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Doubts about the AI bubble are especially important as many companies have yet to see meaningful ROI from AI investments, leaving shareholders squirming and investors antsy for a guarantee that AI is all its cracked up to be.
AI has seen significant shifts in the market, with NVIDIA dethroning Apple and Microsoft as the most valuable company on the stock market. Oracle, another tech and cloud company aiming to profit off the AI boom, saw its stock rise 43% in a single day.
Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI, and Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, have both said that AI is experiencing a bubble when it comes to the market – but both say that the technology – and its economic affect – will be a net positive.





