Europe falls behind in the global race for AI venture capital

Posted by Isabelle Szczepanski le 19 février 2026

While artificial intelligence now accounts for more than half of global venture capital, the European Union as a whole weighs barely as much as the United Kingdom alone. This is a striking contrast for a market of 450 million people, illustrating the continent’s decline in the battle for private funding for AI.

Artificial intelligence is now at the heart of global venture capital. According to the latest brief published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), global venture capital (VC) investment in AI companies reached $258.7 billion in 2025, accounting for 61% of total global VC investment ($427.1 billion). In 2022, this share was still only 30%. In absolute terms, annual flows have increased more than thirtyfold since 2012. The momentum is spectacular. But it is also deeply unbalanced, with the 27 EU countries…

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