Data from Crunchbase covering funding rounds between 2010 and 2024 shows that the share of venture funding rounds tagged with artificial intelligence categories peaked around 2019–2020 and has declined since, across both the United States and the EU27.
In the United States, the share of rounds carrying an AI label reached approximately 7% around 2019 before falling to roughly 5–6% by 2023–2024. The EU27, taken as an aggregate, followed a similar trajectory, peaking at around 7% in 2019 and declining thereafter. This can be possibly justified by the fact that AI categories moved from broad self-description towards more defined investment criteria, and consolidation in deal volume became visible in both regions.
The capital picture, however, diverges. In the United States, the share of total venture capital flowing to AI-tagged companies remained elevated after 2021 and rose again approaching 2024, reaching approximately 5–6% of total capital raised. In the EU27, the share of capital allocated to AI companies did not recover-developed in a comparable fashion, with figures after 2020, remaining at or below 2% throughout 2021–2024.
This divergence indicates that whilst the number of AI-labelled deals is falling in both regions, the United States is concentrating larger amounts of capital into a smaller number of AI companies. The EU27, by contrast, is experiencing a contraction and absence of development in both deal volume and capital share simultaneously.
The data does not indicate whether the decline in AI-labelled rounds reflects stricter categorisation by investors, a reduction in the number of companies describing themselves as AI-focused, or a genuine contraction in early-stage AI activity. Further disaggregation by investment stage would be required to distinguish between these interpretations.
For a deeper look at the data underlying this analysis, including deal-level breakdowns, sector segmentation, and investor activity across states and regional AI ecosystems, write to us at team@aiworld.eu or through the form.
Sources: Crunchbase