87.5% of venture dollars went to AI. The rest fought over scraps

Venture capital funds poured 87.5% of their investments into artificial intelligence (AI) companies during the second quarter of 2026, according to PitchBook's latest U.S. VC Valuations data. The remaining 12.5% of capital was scattered across non-AI startups, where valuations only saw modest growth. AI companies experienced significant valuation jumps, with median step-ups of 2.2x for Series D and later rounds, compared to 1.6x for non-AI firms.

This disparity was particularly pronounced for top AI players like Anthropic, whose valuation surged by 5.3x within just eight months. The U.S. venture market now appears to be heavily skewed towards AI, with top AI companies driving the majority of valuation growth. Despite the trend, liquidity remains a challenge as IPOs and acquisitions are difficult to secure.

Recent acquisition deals reached a decade-high $375.4 billion, but not all deals performed equally. Secondary trading on platforms such as Forge indicated a median discount of zero to 5% for AI startups, while non-AI startups faced a median discount of 54% to 59%.