Artificial intelligence is effectively taking control of the global venture investment market.

According to the latest report released by startup data platform Crunchbase, cited by IT media outlet TechCrunch on March 3 local time, venture capital funding flowing into startups worldwide reached a record $189 billion in February alone. Of that, AI startups raised $171 billion, accounting for about 90 percent of the total.

That is more than a simple increase and is close to a concentration of funding. February investment jumped more than threefold from January, prompting analysis that global venture funding has effectively converged on AI. The report said, "The current flow of investment shows that beyond interest in a specific technology theme, the industrial landscape is being reshaped around AI."

This record inflow was driven by a small number of very large deals. In particular, three companies - OpenAI, Anthropic and Waymo - accounted for 83 percent of total investment.

OpenAI was the largest. OpenAI recently raised $110 billion, valuing the company at $730 billion. It is among the largest private investment rounds on record. The market is also assessing OpenAI's valuation as being on a par with global mega-cap listed companies.

Rival Anthropic completed a $30 billion Series G round, lifting its valuation to $380 billion. It is seen as the result of aggressive inflows from big tech and institutional money as competition intensifies over generative AI safety and large language models.

Autonomous driving technology company Waymo also raised $16 billion, reaching a valuation of $126 billion. As expectations for the commercialisation of full self-driving have come back into focus, analysis suggests investor sentiment toward AI-based mobility companies has also revived.

Notably, the amount the three companies raised in a single month is equivalent to one-third of total global venture investment in 2025, which stood at $425 billion. The 'mega-round' phenomenon, in which funding concentrates in a small number of companies within a specific industry, is particularly pronounced in AI.

The venture industry is assessing this by saying, "AI has moved beyond being a promising sector and has become the central axis of capital allocation." In the past, fintech, biotech and cleantech shared investment weight, but now AI is acting like a black hole for funding.

Some, however, are raising concerns about the concentration of investment. While company valuations are surging as outsized rounds repeat, scrutiny is still under way over whether actual profitability and market dominance can justify them. In particular, revenue models for generative AI services, infrastructure costs and regulatory variables are cited as key factors that will determine valuations ahead.

Even so, the direction of global money is clear. Various industries including cloud, semiconductors, autonomous driving and robotics are being reorganised around AI, and investors are placing large sums in advance into the small number of companies expected to dominate platforms.

As AI reshapes the venture market, attention is focused on whether this wave of outsized investment can lead to sustainable growth or fuel another bubble debate.