More than half of all capital entering AI originates from inside the industry

Share of investment by source (incoming) and destination (outgoing), 1,246 AI firms across five supply-chain layers

AI-to-AI flows

Flows involving external (non-AI) parties

61%

AI firms' share of global VC in 2025
— up from 30% in 2022

46.4%

of intra-AI deal value also involves
a supplier–customer relationship

AI firms collectively receive more than half their investment capital from within the sector — roughly double the share they consciously direct back into AI peers. With nearly half of all intra-AI deal value simultaneously linking vendor to customer, the boundary between genuine external demand and circular self-financing has become almost impossible to draw.